Myaskovsky, Cello Sonata No. 1 Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) holds a prominent place in Russian music of the early 20th century, although he is somewhat in the shadow of Shostakovich and Prokofiev. He was born in Novogeorgiyevsk (Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki) near Warsaw, a fortress town on … Read more
Webern, Cinq Pièces Five pieces in under six minutes—it says something about the sparseness of Webern’s music. The Austrian composer Anton Webern (1883-1945) is one of three primary figures in the Second Viennese School. Arnold Schoenberg and his acolytes Webern and Berg pioneered the compositional … Read more
Ives, Songs My Mother Taught Me If I had it to do over again, I might argue in favor of including this song in our collection of traditional songs Hurrah and Hallelujah. No, it’s not really a traditional song. It was written by the American … Read more
Berg, Lyric Suite In my years as an undergraduate majoring in music composition, we spent considerable time analyzing music of what’s called the “Second Viennese School” or the “New Viennese School”—essentially Arnold Schoenberg and his students Anton Webern (1883-1945) and Alban Berg (1885-1935). (The “First … Read more
Grainger, Lincolnshire Posy Percy Grainger (1882-1961) is another composer, with others like Bartók and Kodály, who collected folk songs and incorporated them into his compositions. The new technology of the gramophone made field recordings possible, while that same leap in technology threatened the cultural forces … Read more
Mancini, Theme from The Pink Panther You don’t run across bass quintets often, perhaps for obvious reasons, but this arrangement adds an appropriate element of whimsy to the famous Mancini theme for The Pink Panther. Henry Mancini (1924-1994) is best known for his numerous film … Read more
Messaien, Quartet for the End of Time (V. Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus) French-born Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is one of the more eclectic composers of the 20th century. He incorporated serialism, complex rhythmic modes, Japanese and Indonesian influences, and birdsongs, but retained a strong sense … Read more
Sviridov, Snowstorm I came to know the music of Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov (1915-1998) almost entirely through Professor Carol. One of her best lectures preceded a concert in the Van Cliburn Series by the late Russian singer Dmitri Hvorostovky. He was performing Sviridov’s song cycle Russia … Read more
Penderecki, Agnus Dei The Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (pen-de-RETsk-i) died last year. Born in 1933, he spent much of his life behind the Iron Curtain and much of his output was in the form a sacred music. Penderecki’s music was all the rage when I … Read more
Paulus, Pilgrim’s Hymn The American composer Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) is perhaps best known for his choral works. We featured one such example, the exceptionally lovely chorus The Road Home in this series four years ago. The Pilgrim’s Hymn comes from Paulus’ one-act opera The Three … Read more