American Music

Vieuxtemps, Souvenirs d’Amérique I usually turn to something American for the Fourth of July. Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) was a Belgian composer better known in his day as a virtuoso violinist comparable to Niccolò Paganini. And the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, performing in this week’s video, obviously … Read more

Bolcom, Three Ghost Rags When you think of Ragtime, you probably think of Scott Joplin. Maybe you should think of William Bolcom (b. 1938) as well. Bolcom played a key role in reinvigorating interest in Ragtime and in Joplin back in the 1960s. And very … Read more

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Copland, Appalachian Spring We have been through a series of posts recently on 20th-century American music, but we need to consider Aaron Copland (1900-1990) before moving on. Copland filled his works with evocations of America, using folk tunes, hymns, and American dance rhythms. But he didn’t … Read more

George Frederick Root, The Battle Cry of Freedom With the Fourth of July upon us, we should listen to something patriotic. America has produced numerous patriotic songs, but “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (also known as “Rally Round the Flag”) strikes me as one of the … Read more

Stephen Paulus, The Road Home We are not done with the subject of American choral music yet (and of course we never will be). William Billings and Eric Whitacre provide some nice bookends, chronologically at least, for some further discussion. Choral music has proven to be … Read more

William Billings, Methinks I See an Heavn’ly Host If you are wandering around Boston Commons, you may reach a small cemetery on south side off Boylston Street. (Or maybe you have seen a video of Professor Carol teaching American music from this cemetery.) A plaque next … Read more

Barber, Adagio for Strings It may seem that I feature works in this series that tend to be less well known if not obscure. There’s some truth to that. It results in part from the fact that I look for shorter works that I think … Read more