#ClassicsaDay #USclassics Tweets Annotated - Part 4

#USclassics

One of the ongoing Twitter hashtag groups I participate with is #ClassicsaDay. For July 2017, I used the theme #USclassics, and presented an entire month of American composers with examples of their music.

Twitter's 140 character limit constrained my tweets to the composer's name, the title of the work, links, and hashtags. Below is an annotated list of the #USclassics composers I featured the last week in July, finishing the series. Links to the entire month's composers are at the bottom of this post.

Edmond Dédé (1827–1903)

- Edmond Dédé was a free-born Creole in New Orleans. Though a prodigy both as a composer and a violinist, Dédé had to leave the States in order to have a career. Dédé eventually settled in Paris in the 1850s and studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He conducted the Bordeaux Théâtre l'Alcazar for almost three decades and toured as a concert violinist. Dédé's compositions were frequently performed in Europe. His son Eugene Arcade Dédé was also a successful composer.

Arthur Foote (1853–1937)

- Arthur Foote was a composer and organist who remained in Massachusetts for most of his professional career. He was part of the Boston Six (along with Amy Beach, George Whitefield Chadwick, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker). Foote was also one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists. His style shows influences of Brahms and Wagner. Most of Foote's output was chamber music, and it was in this genre that he excelled. Foote's Piano Quintet and Piano Quartet are his most frequently performed works.

George Whitefield Chadwick (1854–1931)

- George Chadwick was another member of the Boston Six. He studied in Europe with Carl Reinecke and Joseph Rheinberger. Chadwick's music, though steeped in the language of European romanticism, retained an American flavor. Chadwick wrote symphonies, operas, and other large-scale works. His string quartets, especially his fourth, remain his best-known works.

George Templeton Strong (1856–1948)

- George Strong was born in New York City and studied at the Leipzig Conservatory. He taught briefly at the New England Conservatory of Music. Although Strong permanently moved to Switzerland in 1897 he's still considered an American -- rather than Swiss -- composer. Strong wrote in a late-romantic style. He was also a talented artist, with a 30-year career as a serious painter.

Arthur Farwell (1872–1952)

- Arthur Farwell graduated from MIT in 1893 as an engineer but soon turned to music. He studied with Engelbert Humperdinck in Berlin. Farwell returned to the States in 1899. He was a leader in the American Indianist movement. The Indianists were white composers using Native American melodies and culture in their own work. Farwell established Wa-Wan press to publish Indianist works. He did most of the lithography, music engraving and cover designs for his publications. Farwell's catalog includes an extensive amount of choral, chamber and orchestral music, of which Native American-inspired compositions is only a part. Roy Harris and Bernard Rogers are among his students.

Marion Bauer (1882–1955)

- Like many American composers, Marion Bauer studied with Nadia Boulanger. She was the first female faculty member of NYU's music department. She was a contemporary and colleague of Aaron Copland. Milton Babbitt was one of her many students. Bauer helped found the American Music Center and the American Composer's Alliance. Bauer wrote over 160 works, most using some form of extended tonality.

Jan Bach (born 1937)

- Jan Bach studied with Aaron Copland and Thea Musgrave. A professional horn player, Bach is best known for his works for horn (especially his Horn Concerto). Bach's music often has a wry humor to it. Bach has written two operas, several orchestral works, and a substantial amount of chamber music (a good portion featuring brass instruments).

Gregory Short (1938–1999)

- Gregory Short was born on the Yakima Indian Reservation. He spent most of his professional life in Washington State. Short was a pianist and composer and graduated from Julliard and the University of Oregon. Short's compositions often incorporated music and cultural themes of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. Short wrote over 300 works. His catalog includes two piano concertos, and several orchestral tone poems, including the Northwest Tetralogy for Orchestra.

Margaret Brouwer (born 1940)

- A student of George Crumb and Donald Erb, Margaret Brouwer writes music that's both accessible and other-worldly. She's known for her engaging melodies, even in works that challenge the listener. Brouwer founded the Blue Streak Ensemble to perform music of living composers. She also organized the "Music by the Lake" contemporary music concert series. Brouwer's career took off in the 21st Century with several commissions for major works. Her Percussion Concerto, Viola Concerto and Violin Concerto all date from this period.

Kenneth Fuchs (born 1956)

- Kenneth Fuchs studied with Milton Babbitt, David Diamond, and Vincent Persichetti. Fuchs writes in a relaxed tonal style. Rhythmic and textural changes usually provide his music's forward motion as opposed to harmonic progression. Fuchs is best known for his orchestral works, which are frequently performed throughout the world.

Annotated List for Week 1: Charles Theodor Pachelbel through Roger Zare
Annotated List for Week 2: Benjamin Carr through Roger Boureland
Annotated List for Week 3: William Billings through Adrienne Albert

#ClassicsaDay #USclassics Tweets Annotated - Part 3

#USclassics 

One of the ongoing Twitter hashtag groups I participate with is #ClassicsaDay. For July 2017, I used the theme #USclassics and presented an entire month of American composers with examples of their music.

Twitter only allows 140 characters, pretty much limiting my tweets to the composer's name, the title of the work, links, and hashtags. Below is an annotated list of those posts for the third week of July, providing a little more background for each composer.

William Billings (1746–1800)

- William Billings was one of the earliest choral composers in America. Center in New England, Billings wrote and published hundreds of hymns and anthems. The works were written for amateur choirs of limited ability, yet show great originality and diversity.Billings is also credited with writing some of America's earliest Christmas carols, such as "Judea" and "Shiloh."

Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781–1861)

- Anthony Heinrich is considered the first American full-time composer. Originally from Bohemia, Heinrich ran a successful international business. The Napoleonic Wars destroyed his business and his fortune. In 1810 he was stranded in the US virtually penniless. It was then that Heinrich turned to his avocation. Heinrich became a professional violinist, conductor, and composer.

His music is highly programmatic and owes more to American traditions than European. Nevertheless, he's credited with conducting the second American performance of a Beethoven symphony in 1817, and founding the New York Philharmonic Society in 1842 (which would become the New York Philharmonic).

George Frederick Bristow (1825–1898)

- The son of a renowned conductor and pianist, George Bristow received a first-rate musical education. He joined the New Your Philharmonic Society Orchestra as a violinist at 17 and became concertmaster at 25. Bristow thought that American classical music should be firmly rooted in American culture. Works such as the Rip van Winkle cantata, The Pioneer a Grand Cantata, The Great Republic, and the Niagra Symphony show Bristow's interest in American themes.

John Knowles Paine (1839–1906)

- John Paine was a talented organist and composer credited with a number of firsts. He was the first composer born in American to achieve international recognition. He was a founder of the American Guild of Organists, an organization still active today. Paine was Harvard's first organist and choirmaster, and shortly became America's first music professor. He's credited with developing the curriculum upon which Harvard's Department of Music was founded (and which would become the model for music departments in American higher education institutions).

Paine was also part of the highly influential Boston Six (along with Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, George Chadwick, and Horatio Parker). He wrote two symphonies, as well as many organ and choral works. Paine's Mass in D minor established his international reputation when it premiered in Berlin.

Arthur H. Bird (1856–1923)

- Arthur Bird was originally from Massachusetts, and spent several years studying and working in Europe as a correspondent for the Chicago "Musical Leader." During that time, he spent a year studying with Franz Liszt. Bird's work includes several orchestral works, including a symphony. He also wrote music for wind chamber ensembles (as opposed to concert or marching bands). Bird's music was popular in Germany, although seldom performed in the United States.

Edward Burlingame Hill (1872–1960)

- Edward Hill, when not composing, spent most of his professional career teaching at Harvard. He studied with John Knowles Paine, George Whitefield Chadwick, and Charles Marie Widor. Hill incorporated American elements into his music, including jazz. Although he wrote a sizable catalog of music, his legacy primarily rests in the students he taught and inspired: Leonard Bernstein, Elliott Carter, Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thomson (among others).

John J. Becker (1886–1961)

- John Becker was an important figure in American music after the First World War. As a conductor, he premiered works by his friend Charles Ives, as well as Carl Ruggles and Wallingford Reger. He was an editor for Henry Cowell's New Music Quarterly and was an administrator of the Federal Music Project during the Depression. Becker's music was considered part of the "ultramodern school" (along with Ives, Ruggles, Cowell, and Riegger).

Louise Talma (1906–1996)

- Based in New York City, Louise Talma received degrees from Juilliard, NYU, and Columbia. She studied with Nadia Boulanger every summer for 13 years and originally wrote in a neoclassical style. In the 1950s she experimented with twelve tone technique, but eventually returned to tonal composition near the near the end of her life.

Talma's career is marked with several significant firsts. She was the first woman to be elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters; win a Sibelius medal for composition; have a full-scale opera performed in Germany; receive two Guggenheim Fellowships. And she was the first American to teach at Fontainebleau.

Easley Blackwood, Jr. (born 1933)

- Easley Blackwood studied with Olivier Messiaen, Paul Hindemith, and Nadia Boulanger. He's known for his exploration of tonality in all aspects. Blackwood's written works with various non-traditional tuning systems. 12-tone rows, and microtonal tunings. Blackwood's also the author of a seminal work "The Structure of Recognizable Diatonic Tunings," still in use today.

Gloria Coates (born 1938)

- Gloria Coates is an American composer who's lived in Germany since 1969. Coates studied with Alexander Tcherepnin and Otto Luening and writes in a post-minimalist style. Her works often include canons, with atmospheric glissandi. Coates has written sixteen symphonies, as well as some important multi-media and theater works.

Adrienne Albert (born 1941)

- Adrienne Albert began her professional music career as an alto. She worked with composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and Leonard Bernstein, who wrote for the special qualities of her voice. In the 1980s she transitioned from singing to conducting, and in the 1990s, to composing full-time (she had been writing music all her life). Albert writes in a lyrical post-tonal style that often has a lightness and playfulness to it.

Annotated List for Week 1: Charles Theodor Pachelbel through Roger Zare
Annotated List for Week 2: Benjamin Carr through Roger Bourland
Annotated List for Week 4: Edmond Dédé through Kevin Fuchs

#ClassicsaDay #USclassics Tweets Annotated - Part 2

#USclassics

One of the ongoing Twitter hashtag groups I participate with is #ClassicsaDay. For July 2017, I used the theme #USclassics and presented an entire month of American composers with examples of their music.

Since Twitter only allows 140 characters, I couldn't include a lot of info about these composers. Part 1 covered the first week's tweets. The annotated list below is the American composers I featured the second week in July.

Benjamin Carr (1768–1831)

- Benjamin Carr came from a distinguished musical family. His father was a prominent music publisher in Boston, and both Benjamin and his brother Thomas were organists, music teachers, and composers. Carr published over 60 works, mostly art songs. He also composed works for the stage. His most popular work is the 1794 Federal Overture, which incorporates well-known American tunes.

George Frederick Bristow (1825–1898)

- The son of a renowned conductor and pianist, George Bristow received a first-rate musical education. He joined the New Your Philharmonic Society Orchestra as a violinist at 17 and became concertmaster at 25. Bristow thought that American classical music should be firmly rooted in American culture. Works such as the Rip van Winkle cantata, The Pioneer a Grand Cantata, The Great Republic, and the Niagara Symphony show Bristow's interest in American themes.

Dudley Buck (1839–1909)

Dudley Buck studied in Leipzig, Dresden, and Paris before returning to the States. He was a professional organist, as well as a conductor and composer. Buck wrote two operas (one only surviving in fragments), a symphony and many other works for orchestras, choruses, and organ. His Concert Variations on the Star-Spangled Banner, Op. 23 was his most popular organ work.

Edgar Stillman Kelley (1857–1944)

- Edgar Kelly was a Midwestern composer who was a colleague of Edward MacDowell (he later spent time at the MacDowell Colony). Kelly often used music from other cultures in his music (China, Arabia, Greek modes, American Indian melodies, etc.). His goal, both as a teacher and composer, was to have American classical music accepted as equal to the music of European countries -- both in those countries and with American audiences. Symphony No. 1 "Gulliver's Voyage to Lilliput", Op. 15.

Harry Lawrence Freeman (1869–1954)

- Harry Freeman was an opera composer, conductor, teacher -- and an African-American. He's credited with being the first such to have an opera produced (Epthalia, 1891). Freeman had to create his own companies to perform his works. At the time of his death, Freeman had composed over twenty operas, as well as other orchestral and choral works. Freeman was inspired to compose after hearing Tannhäuser at age 18. His inspiration did not go unnoticed. Freeman was known in his lifetime as "the black Wagner."

George Frederick McKay (1899–1970)

- George McKay was born in Washington state and remained in the Pacific Northwest throughout most of his career. He incorporated American folk elements into his work, including jazz, folk songs, and Native American melodies. McKay founded the Composition Department at the University of Washington. William Bolcom and John Cage were some of his more famous students. Evocation Symphony "Symphony for Seattle"

Elinor Remick Warren (1900–1991)

- Elinor Remick Warren studied piano with Leopold Godowsky, and composition with Nadia Boulanger. Warren wrote over 200 compositions, most in a neo-romantic style. Her works include several large-scale choral works and symphonic pieces. Towards the end of her life, Warren's music began to reach a larger audience through recordings.

Gail Kubik (1914–1984)

- Like many American composers of the mid-Twentieth Century, Gail Kubik studied with Nadia Boulanger. He also studied with Leo Sowerby and Walter Piston. Kubik was a staff composer for NBC Radio and served as music director for the Motion Picture Bureau at the Office of War Information. As a result, Kubik's style, while progressive and original, is always accessible. He wrote the score for Gerald McBoing-Boing and won the Pulitzer in 1952 for his Symphony Concertante.

Yehudi Wyner (born 1929)

- Yehudi Wyner spent most of his childhood and a good deal of his professional life in the greater New York City area. Wyner often celebrates his Jewish heritage in his music. His 1963 "Friday Evening Service" is among his best-known works. I'd personally describe his style as a post-serial romanticism. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Piano Concerto, "Chiavi in Mano," which includes some jazz influences.

Thomas Oboe Lee (born 1945)

- Lee's family left Communist China in 1949. They eventually made their way to the United States. Lee has won many awards for his music, including the Rome Prize. Lee writes in a modernist post-tonal style. While immediately accessible, his works also push beyond the limits of traditional classical forms.

Roger Bourland (born 1952)

- Roger Bourland was part of the Boston-based Composers in Red Sneakers, along with Thomas Oboe Lee. His music combines advanced compositional techniques with accessible melodies and usually strong tonal centers. Bourland's written operas and cantatas as well as works for orchestra and chamber groups. A student of Gunther Schuller, Bourland's comfortable with incorporating elements of popular music into his works. American Baroque

Annotated List for Week 1: Charles Theodor Pachelbel through Roger Zare
Annotated List for Week 2: Benjamin Carr through Roger Bourland
Annotated List for Week 3: William Billings through Adrienne Albert

#ClassicsaDay #USclassics Tweets Annotated - Part 1

#USclassics

One of the ongoing Twitter hashtag groups I participate with is #ClassicsaDay. For July 2017, I decided to use the theme #USclassics, and present an entire month of American composers with examples of their music.

Twitter only allows 140 characters, pretty much limiting my tweets to the composer's name, the title of the work, links, and hashtags. Below is an annotated list of those tweets, providing a little more background for each composer.

Charles Theodore Pachelbel (1690–1750)

- Like his father Johann Pachelbel (writer of the Canon), Charles Theodore was an organist and composer. He emigrated from Germany in 1733. He first settled in Boston but soon moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he spent the rest of his life. There he was at the center of one of the most sophisticated musical communities in the colonies.

Supply Belcher (1751–1836)

- The Second Great Awakening (1790-1820) was an American spiritual revival movement that resulted in a huge increase in Baptist and Methodist congregations. Demand for music was met by, among others, the First New England School of self-taught composers. Supply Belcher was a member of that school, writing hymns for amateur and often musically illiterate small church choirs. Nevertheless, the "Handel of Maine" produced well-crafted works that are still being performed today.

William Henry Fry (1813–1864)

- William Henry Fry holds the distinction of being the first native-born American to compose for symphony orchestra and the first to have an opera performed. Fry was also the first music critic for a major American newspaper (Greeley's New York Tribune). Fry continually encouraged the support of American music by American audiences.

Charles Lucien Lambert (1828–1896)

- Charles Lambert was born a "free person of color" in New Orleans. He moved first to France in 1854 then to Brazil in the 1860s. Abroad Lambert enjoyed a successful concert pianist and composer, which he couldn't do in America. He was a contemporary and colleague of Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

Eugene Thayer (1838–1889)

- Eugene Thayer was an organ virtuoso and composer. Like many organists, his compositions are almost exclusively for his instrument. Thayer's career mainly revolved around Boston and New York City. Thayer's most performed composition is the fugue on "America," from his second organ sonata.

Avery Claflin (1898–1979)

- Like Charles Ives, Avery Claflin's professional career was in business, which left him freed him from commercial reasons to compose. Claflin studied with Satie, whose influence can be heard in his music. After retiring in 1959, Claflin devoted himself to composition full-time.

Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953)

- Ruth Crawford Seeger started her musical career as a contemporary composer, part of a group labeled the "ultramoderns." She eventually married one of her composition teachers, Charles Seeger. Seeger was an early ethnomusicologist, and Ruth Crawford Seeger came to embrace her husband's passion for traditional folk music. It was something her children, son Mike Seeger and stepson Pete Seeger would become famous for.

Vivian Fine (1913–2000)

- Vivian Fine wrote over 140 compositions. A student of Roger Sessions, her works were often dissonant though her style softened over time. She was also a master of counterpoint, as well as orchestration.

Karel Husa (born 1921)

- Karel Husa was born in Czechoslovakia. He emigrated to the US in 1854 and became a citizen in 1959. Husa won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1969. His work often incorporated avant-garde techniques, such as serialism or microtonality. Husa's primary concern was communication, and his works often have a dramatic impact.

Roger Zare (born 1985)

- Roger Zare is an American composer and pianist currently based in Chicago. He's primarily known for his orchestral and wind ensemble works.



Annotated List for Week 2: Benjamin Carr through Roger Bourland
Annotated List for Week 3: William Billings through Adrienne Albert
Annotated List for Week 4: Edmond Dédé through Kevin Fuchs