American Music

[jowcol]

I've added the Violin Concerto by Ben Weber to the downloads section.




Wikipedia Entry:

William Jennings Bryan "Ben" Weber (July 23, 1916 in St. Louis – June 16, 1979 in New York) was an American composer.
Weber was largely self-taught. He worked initially as a copyist and only came to recognition in the 1950s. Weber used the twelve-tone technique but, rather than avoid tonality, he worked with it and achieved a virtuoso Romantic style. He composed chamber music for various combinations of instruments, orchestral music including concertos for violin and piano, piano music, and songs.

Among those who admired Weber's music were Ned Rorem, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt, and David Diamond.

Weber received the Thorne Music Award in 1965. He authored his own memoirs, How I Took 63 Years to Commit Suicide, the year he died.

Review of  Memorial Concert from the NY Times.
 
Arts
MUSIC REVIEW; A Serialist With a Penchant for Lyricism
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
Published: December 04, 1999

The American composer Ben Weber was not a major figure in his lifetime, but he earned the lasting esteem of his colleagues. That esteem was palpable on Wednesday night when a group of those colleagues marked the 20th anniversary of his death in a program called ''Ben Weber Remembered'' at Miller Theater.

Weber, born in 1916 in St. Louis, was largely self-taught as a composer. He was one of the first Americans to embrace the 12-tone techniques of Schoenberg, starting in 1938. After moving to New York in 1945, he maintained a strikingly diverse circle of friends, Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Leonard Bernstein and the poet Frank O'Hara among them. A voluble, roly-poly man talker, and excellent cook, Weber became more reclusive as he got older. He died alone at 63.

Weber's personality is reflected in his music, by turns witty and melancholic, rigorous and free-wheeling. Two works for cello and piano, played compellingly by the cellist Joel Krosnick and the pianist Gilbert Kalish, are typical. Five Pieces for cello and piano (1941) was inspired by Webern's radically concise 12-tone works. But Weber could not stifle his bent for expansive lyricism and bold gestures. In Three Capriccios for cello and piano (1977), one gets the sense that his adaptation of the 12-tone technique was his way of ensuring that his music would keep its cutting edge and not slip into Romanticism. There is a rather Brahmsian spirit trying to emerge here. In the ''Concert Aria After Solomon,'' performed by the soprano Lauren Skuce with an ensemble including members of the New York Woodwind Quintet, Weber gave free rein to his rhapsodic side, with engaging results.

This event was conceived by the composer Roger Trefousse, whose idea it was to invite five of Weber's composer-colleagues to compose tributes using, if they chose to, the same instruments that Weber did in his self-effacing Prelude and Nocturne: flute (Tara Helen O'Connor), cello (Dorothy Lawson) and celesta (Margaret Kampmeier). Mr. Trefousse's contribution was a colorful ''Fantasia on the Name of Ben Weber.''

The best of these tributes were equally self-effacing. Mr. Babbitt's ''Composition for One Instrument and Ben'' is a sparkling piece of about one minute for solo piano (played by Michael Barrett). Ned Rorem's ''For Ben,'' a wistfully lyrical solo piano work that Mr. Rorem performed, is spiked with pungent harmony that captured Weber's nature. Lou Harrison, who could not attend, offered a spunky piece for flute, cello and celesta alive with pulsating ethno-music rhythms. Also scored for the same trio was Francis Thorne's attractive ''Lyric Variation No. 8,'' and Michael Colgrass's ''Memento Trio,'' a somewhat over-stuffed piece that tries to evoke the conflict between 12-tone and tonal styles, with bits of jazz and pop thrown in.

Other Weber works were performed, though the impact of the music was not served by the length of the program (nearly three hours). Still, as several of the composers emphasized in a preconcert panel, Weber was a garrulous fellow who liked parties. He would have liked this one.

[shamokin88]

Richard Yardumian

Nothing is ever simple but I am hopeful that the link to Desolate City goes to Desolate City - 10.9 MB at 5:47, no vocal part. And the the link to Psalm 130 goes to Psalm 130 - 19.37 MB at 10.13 with vocal part. If not I will have to do it all over again and bite the radiator!

[Dundonnell]

Richard Yardumian

Nothing is ever simple but I am hopeful that the link to Desolate City goes to Desolate City - 10.9 MB at 5:47, no vocal part. And the the link to Psalm 130 goes to Psalm 130 - 19.37 MB at 10.13 with vocal part. If not I will have to do it all over again and bite the radiator!

No need to bite the radiator, Edward It works this time

[semloh]

Richard Yardumian

No need to bite the radiator, Edward It works this time

Yes, indeed! Thank you, Edward! 

[DennisS]

Many thanks to Dundonnell and others for the Yardumian uploads. I quite like nearly all the music of this composer but this is no surprise as I am very keen on Hovharness!

cheers
Dennis

[Latvian]

Perhaps this will be of some interest. Most of Bingham's music is for solo organ - there is a lot of it - and his career was played out in New York City where he served on the faculty of Columbia University.
His music is pretty conservative, on the academic side. I know there are always some organ groupies out there who enjoy shop talk about their preferred instrument. For me those conversations might as well be about Fermat's Last Theorem. I can tell you nothing about the instruments and am hopeful, wooly sonics aside, that these works will please someone.

I, for one, am delighted! As an organist, I'm especially pleased about these uploads. The Connecticut Suite is a work that I've been curious about for decades, but have never been quite desperate enough to actively seek it out. Now I can finally satisfy my curiosity. Thank you!

[cjvinthechair]

Thank you - can never get enough organ & orchestra work; listening to C'cutt suite now...delightful !

[semloh]

Shamokin88 - Edward!   Is there any possibility of uploading the rest of the music by Cowell which you mentioned some months ago? I was thinking of the early symphonies.... You've uploaded so much recently (for which my grateful thanks) that you have perhaps forgotten. 

[shamokin88]

Henry Cowell with a yes, but . . . the symphonies now present a problem. Numbers 2 and 11 are available as paid downloads on Classical Archives, 2 also from the ASO website. Number 4 is similarly available from Pristine Audio. The entire CRI catalogue of LP recordings is now available from New World Records, which blocks numbers 7 and 16 - they make custom-CDs for you that reflect exactly what what was on a given LP. And number 5 was last available on a Bay Cities CD, probably out of print for a dozen years. Given that I won't step on someone's paid source or copy CDs that leaves me with options for only symphony 14. Is the First Edition CD of Cowell's music still available? I will gladly offer that, which leaves many other works available besides symphonies. Have I understood our availability guidelines correctly friends?

Unfortunately for UC, many of these changes have come during last six months, and I have only gradually become aware of them.

Guidance appreciated.

[semloh]

Henry Cowell with a yes, but . . . the symphonies now present a problem. ......
Guidance appreciated.

Hmmmm ...... fingers crossed!

[semloh]

Thank you for the Grofe - charming music - odd title but decidedly atmospheric.  It's one that I will play often.

[Dundonnell]

Yet again we are deeply indebted to shamokin for his uploads of a substantial batch of works by Henry Cowell

[suffolkcoastal]

and to Shamokin for the Piston Piano Trios too.

[semloh]

Gosh! The Rod McKuen symphony! It's very 60s, the themes are unmemorable, the orchestration alternates between simple and pretentious, and I kept thinking of Richard Clayderman! 

But - sincere thanks for uploading it - it IS good to have the opportunity to hear it. 

A large picture of the LP cover can be found at: http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=539892

I'd love to hear his Concerto for Four Harpsichords & Orchestra (same conductor, different LP). Who knows - it might be brilliant! 

[Sicmu]

Gosh! The Rod McKuen symphony! It's very 60s, the themes are unmemorable, the orchestration alternates between simple and pretentious, and I kept thinking of Richard Clayderman! 

But - sincere thanks for uploading it - it IS good to have the opportunity to hear it. 

A large picture of the LP cover can be found at: http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=539892

I'd love to hear his Concerto for Four Harpsichords & Orchestra (same conductor, different LP). Who knows - it might be brilliant! 

Yes that's it, this symphony is actually pure crap  but don't forget it is april fools day !