A Birthday: Marian Anderson
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Contralto Marian Anderson was born this day in 1897. To honor this distinguished American, we bring you three examples of her art in our third hour, so stay tuned!
The early-20th-century composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes wrote extremely sensuous music with which he strove to express the ineffable. His three “Fantasy Pieces” of 1912‑15 are titled ‘Barcarolle,’ ‘Notturno,’ and ‘Scherzo.’ Pianist Joseph Smith’s presentation will delight you. Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat receives an exemplary interpretation by William Purvis, horn, soloing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Philadelphia-born Marc Blitzstein’s Piano Concerto, written in 1931 when he was only twenty-five, was never heard except in piano-reduction form until 1986, when Lukas Foss brought it to the Brooklyn Philharmonic, with Michael Barrett at the piano. It is these same forces we hear this evening, as we continue with our focus on American composers for the WNYC American Music Festival.
It seems somehow only too fitting to begin our short celebration of Marian Anderson by hearing her sing “Nobody Knows de Trouble I’ve Seen.” Franz Rupp supports her on piano, as he does in the two spirituals, “Poor Mee” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled) and “Trampin’.” Finally, Ms. Anderson and her accompanist are heard in Franz Schubert’s “Schwanengesang”: ‘Aufenthalt’ (Resting Place).
American composers again take pride of place in our last hour; violinist William Bolcom and various other artists bring you Lou Harrison’s “Music for Violin and Various Instruments”; the group Piano Circus performs Steve Reich’s “Six Pianos.”
Two posthumous preludes and one “Gnossienne” by Satie, originally for piano but orchestrated by Poulenc, are performed by the Orchestre National de France, which you can hear live at Carnegie Hall on February 24th.
The early-20th-century composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes wrote extremely sensuous music with which he strove to express the ineffable. His three “Fantasy Pieces” of 1912‑15 are titled ‘Barcarolle,’ ‘Notturno,’ and ‘Scherzo.’ Pianist Joseph Smith’s presentation will delight you. Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat receives an exemplary interpretation by William Purvis, horn, soloing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Philadelphia-born Marc Blitzstein’s Piano Concerto, written in 1931 when he was only twenty-five, was never heard except in piano-reduction form until 1986, when Lukas Foss brought it to the Brooklyn Philharmonic, with Michael Barrett at the piano. It is these same forces we hear this evening, as we continue with our focus on American composers for the WNYC American Music Festival.
It seems somehow only too fitting to begin our short celebration of Marian Anderson by hearing her sing “Nobody Knows de Trouble I’ve Seen.” Franz Rupp supports her on piano, as he does in the two spirituals, “Poor Mee” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled) and “Trampin’.” Finally, Ms. Anderson and her accompanist are heard in Franz Schubert’s “Schwanengesang”: ‘Aufenthalt’ (Resting Place).
American composers again take pride of place in our last hour; violinist William Bolcom and various other artists bring you Lou Harrison’s “Music for Violin and Various Instruments”; the group Piano Circus performs Steve Reich’s “Six Pianos.”
Two posthumous preludes and one “Gnossienne” by Satie, originally for piano but orchestrated by Poulenc, are performed by the Orchestre National de France, which you can hear live at Carnegie Hall on February 24th.
