AARON COPLAND
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Dennis Russell Davies
Music for the Theatre
[1] Prologue
[2] Dance
[3] Interlude
[4] Burlesque
[5] Epilogue
[6] Quiet City
Chris Gekker, Trumpet • Stephen Taylor, English horn
Music for Movies
[7] New England Countryside
[8] Barley Wagons
[9] Sunday Traffic
[10] The Story of Grover's Corners
[11] Threshing Machines
[12] Clarinet Concerto
William Blount, Clarinet
Any artist information was provided at the time of the original release of this record.
Any references to their present status may not be accurate at this time.
As a young man studying composition with' Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the early twenties, Aaron Copland wondered, "If there is a French sounding music and a German sounding music, why not an American sound?" The sure way to achieve this seemed to be with jazz. One of Copland's first pieces after his return to the United States from France in 1923 was a jazzy Piano Concerto. It caused a sensation at Symphony Hall in Boston when the great Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky conducted the premiere with Copland as pianist. Copland wrote in his autobiography, "It may be difficult to imagine today that the very idea of jazz in a concert hall was piquant in the twenties, but it seems that any piece based on jazz was assured of a mild succes de scandale ... " Despite the adverse reviews, Koussevitzky was so taken with the young American composer that he offered to play a new work by Copland the following season. With that in mind and a League of Composers commission in hand, Copland wrote Music for the Theatre in 1925.
Copland converted some musical ideas he had hoped to use as incidental music to a play into a five-movement suite for chamber orchestra, thus the title Music for the Theatre. Copland wrote, "The music seemed to suggest a certain theatrical atmosphere, but I had no specific play in mind." When the work was premiered on 20 November 1925 in
As a young man studying composition with' Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the early twenties, Aaron Copland wondered, "If there is a French sounding music and a German sounding music, why not an American sound?" The sure way to achieve this seemed to be with jazz. One of Copland's first pieces after his return to the United States from France in 1923 was a jazzy Piano Concerto. It caused a sensation at Symphony Hall in Boston when the great Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky conducted the premiere with Copland as pianist. Copland wrote in his autobiography, "It may be difficult to imagine today that the very idea of jazz in a concert hall was piquant in the twenties, but it seems that any piece based on jazz was assured of a mild succes de scandale ... " Despite the adverse reviews, Koussevitzky was so taken with the young American composer that he offered to play a new work by Copland the following season. With that in mind and a League of Composers commission in hand, Copland wrote Music for the Theatre in 1925.
Copland converted some musical ideas he had hoped to use as incidental music to a play into a five-movement suite for chamber orchestra, thus the title Music for the Theatre. Copland wrote, "The music seemed to suggest a certain theatrical atmosphere, but I had no specific play in mind." When the work was premiered on 20 November 1925 in
in Boston, Koussevitzky cushioned it between Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner, but one critic's reaction was typical: "The conductor exploded a tonal bombshell that left in its wake a mingling of surprise, perplexity, indignation and enthusiasm." The League of Composers New York concert at Carnegie Hall brought forth similar results, but Copland was unfazed. He learned early in his career that it took time for audiences to catch up to new sounds in music. And as the composer himself said, "There was a lot of fun in bucking the tide and feeling part of the avant garde out there fighting new battles. That feeling was very much part of the excitement of the times."
Koussevitzky continued to champion Copland's music and to program Music for the Theatre on tour in the States and abroad. The performance that most pleased Copland was in France in 1926. After the concert, French composer Florent Schmitt came to talk to Copland and remarked, "See here, Monsieur Copland, what is the meaning of this? If you Americans begin now to export music instead of merely to import our music, where will we poor French composers be?"
Copland's lifelong friend, the late Harold Clurman, was one of the founders of the Group Theatre. In 1939, Clurman brought the writer Irwin Shaw and Copland together for an experimental play with incidental music, Quiet City. Copland composed music he hoped would evoke feelings simliar to those in the play: the anxiety of a man in deep distress roaming about city streets very late at night. Quiet City had two "tryouts," but was never produced. When the play was dropped, Copland immediately retrieved his score and arranged a suite, changing the instrumentation from trumpet, clarinet, saxophone and piano to trumpet, English horn and string orchestra.
If it seems strange today to think of Copland's playful Music for the Theatre as shocking, nevertheless the rhythms are complex and difficult, the brass is ' -'bluesy" and the work has a liveliness and vitality that makes one want to get up and dance from the very start, when a brash trumpet solo announces the lively first movement, "Prologue," which develops into a brilliant climax before ending with a quiet coda. In the second movement, "Dance," the popular tune "East Side, West Side" is treated to some complex rhythms. The third movement, "Interlude," an expressive melody, is presented with subtle differences three times, first by English horn and then clarinet. The fourth movement plays title, "Burlesque." It is an allegro vivo filled with ironic humor and dissonance. The final "Epilogue" recaptures material from the serene first and third movements.
Few people today connect Copland's Quiet City of 1940 with its original purpose, which gave the impetus for Copland's free and imaginative treatment in this one-movement composition. Quiet City has become an independent musical entity which (in concordance with its name) has quietly found a secure place on concert programs. As quintessentially Copland as his more exuberant works, such as the cowboy ballets, Quiet City shows the introspective Copland, who liked to compose during the late night hours and enjoyed the idea of quiet streets before a city awakens for a new day.
Copland had none of the snobbishness that kept "serious" composers away from composing music for the movies. In fact, he enjoyed the challenge of trying something new and different, and he liked the friendliness of collaborative efforts. "Composing can be such a lonely occupation!" he said. Whether it was music for radio, movies or, later, even television, to Copland "serious" music meant only one thing -- the best music possible for whatever the circumstances. Moreover, Copland has been open-minded about the use of his music for a variety of purposes. As the son of a storekeeper, Copland was nothing if not practical: when music was good enough, why not make it available to a wider audience than the original purpose allowed? Therefore, after composing three successful film scores,
Copland set to work to extract the most appropriate music for a concert suite, Music for Movies of 1942.
Copland had his eye on Hollywood during the thirties, and in fact tried unsuccessfully to secure a contract for a film score; but he had no film credits, and his success in the major concert halls meant little to Hollywood. It was only when he had composed music for a documentary film, The City, in 1939 that Copland was considered eligible by the Hollywood moguls. He was offered the feature film Of Mice and Men, based on John Steinbeck's famous story. Copland's determination that the music be an integral and meaningful part of the drama resulted in one of the most outstanding film scores of all times. A year later, to prove that a composer could write an entirely different kind of music for a totally different type of film, Copland composed music for Our Town, an adaptation of Thornton Wilder's play.
Music for Movies, a five-movement suite for small chamber orchestra, was drawn from Copland's first three film scores. All of the music is modified from the way it is heard in the films, particularly the opening and closing movements. From The City, a film meant to show contrasts between country and city living, Copland chose simple, diatonic melodies for solo woodwinds to convey the
pastoral country sounds of his first movement, "New England Countryside." The second movement, "Barley Wagons," is adapted from Of Mice and Men. Its pastoral quality is enhanced by the instrumentation of flute, clarinet and strings, while the steady movement of the wagons is portrayed by a bass rhythm played by bassoon and violas. The third movement, "Sunday Traffic," is drawn from the livelier sections of The City. It is made up of a folklike tune heard over an ostinato. The simple and lovely melody that runs throughout Our Town is the basis of Copland's fourth movement, "The Story of Grover's Corners." The suite closes with "Threshing Machines," in which Copland chose a steady rhythm to depict aurally the machines seen in Of Mice and Men. Music for Movies had its first performance at the Town Hall Forum concert of 17 February 1943 by the Saidenberg Little Symphony conducted by Daniel Saidenberg.
Benny Goodman had commissioned works from Bartok, Hindemith and Stravinsky before approaching Copland, who claims he would never have thought of a clarinet concerto if Benny Goodman had not asked him for one. He admired Goodman and thought that composing a concerto with him in mind would "give a fresh point of view." The commission was accepted in 1947, and Copland had no trouble composing the lyric first movement of
the two-part work; but the fast movement was more difficult, so he put the piece aside for a while. Copland and Goodman did not work on the composition together, not even the cadenza, but the composer admits to accepting minor suggestions from the performer after the Concerto was finished in 1948.
The first movement is a languid and lyric ABA song form, using a theme in three-quarter time, unusual for Copland. The second movement is a free rondo in direct contrast of style: stark, severe and jazzy. The instrumentation being clarinet with strings, harp and piano, Copland had no battery of percussion instruments for jazz sounds, so he used such special effects as slapping basses and whacking harp strings. Meant to be performed without pause, the two movements are connected by a challenging solo cadenza. When it was pointed out to Copland that many cadenzas are ad lib for the performer, he replied, "I always felt that there was enough room for interpretation even when everything is written out!" The cadenza is structurally important, since it presents fragments of the material yet to come. Copland claims that the second movement is " ... an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music -Charleston rhythm, boogie woogie and Brazilian folktunes." The Concerto ends with a
the two-part work; but the fast movement was more difficult, so he put the piece aside for a while. Copland and Goodman did not work on the composition together, not even the cadenza, but the composer admits to accepting minor suggestions from the performer after the Concerto was finished in 1948.
The first movement is a languid and lyric ABA song form, using a theme in three-quarter time, unusual for Copland. The second movement is a free rondo in direct contrast of style: stark, severe and jazzy. The instrumentation being clarinet with strings, harp and piano, Copland had no battery of percussion instruments for jazz sounds, so he used such special effects as slapping basses and whacking harp strings. Meant to be performed without pause, the two movements are connected by a challenging solo cadenza. When it was pointed out to Copland that many cadenzas are ad lib for the performer, he replied, "I always felt that there was enough room for interpretation even when everything is written out!" The cadenza is structurally important, since it presents fragments of the material yet to come. Copland claims that the second movement is " ... an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music -Charleston rhythm, boogie woogie and Brazilian folktunes." The Concerto ends with a
clarinet glissando -- in jazz lingo, a "smear."
Benny Goodman did not play the first performance of his new Clarinet Concerto immediately; in fact, it was not until 6 November 1950 that the right opportunity presented itself -- with Fritz Reiner and the NBC Symphony of the Air. Reviews did not reflect the popularity achieved later by the Clarinet Concerto. Copland has conducted the Concerto with many celebrated performers in addition to Benny Goodman, with whom he recorded the work twice. Goodman told this writer in a 1983 interview, "I always felt good about the commission. All the best clarinetists have played it all over the world. It's a very popular piece."
© Vivian Perlis
Chris Gekker is principal trumpet of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, as well as the American Brass Quintet and the New York Trumpet Ensemble. He also performs and records with many other groups. He serves on the faculties of the Hartt School of Music, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, the Aspen Music Festival and the Juilliard School. A native of Washington, DC, he is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Maryland. His teachers have included Emerson Head, Sidney Mear, Adel Sanchez and Gerard Schwarz.
Stephen Taylor was born in 1949. He is currently solo oboist with the internationally renowned Speculum Musicae as well as the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, American Composers Orchestra, New Orchestra, Group for Contemporary Music and Parnassus. He is principal oboe of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Philharmonia Virtuosi of NY, Musica Sacra, Caramoor Festival Orchestra, New England Bach Festival Orchestra at Marlboro and Paul Taylor Dance Co. Orchestra, and is a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A 1973 graduate of Juilliard, Mr. Taylor is currently on the faculty at Columbia University. In 1982 he was awarded a performer's grant from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University.
William Blount was born in Chicago, where he studied with his father, John Blount (formerly principal clarinet of the NBC Staff Orchestra, Chicago), and Walter Wolwage of the Chicago Symphony; he also studied with Leon Russianoff at the Manhattan School of Music. He has been the solo clarinetist with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble and Orchestra of St. Luke's since 1976. A recipient of a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant for his 1981 New York debut recital, Mr. Blount has performed in recital with such artists as Rudolph Firkusny, Dame Janet Baker, Artur Balsam and Elmar Oliveira. An unusually versatile artist, Mr.
Blount has performed with opera, ballet and modern dance orchestras and new music groups, and as a saxophonist with Latin bands and the Buddy Rich Big Band.
Created by Artistic Director Michael Feldman in 1979, the Orchestra of St. Luke's has become one of the most highly sought after and esteemed ensembles on the musical scene, acclaimed for its performances of a diversified repertoire ranging from the baroque to the contemporary. It varies in size from 30 to 80 musicians, with members of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble leading each section and serving as a nucleus. The Orchestra of St. Luke's achieved prominence during the 1984-85 season, through its participation in Carnegie Hall's Bach Festival and Handel Opera Series, as well as in the world premiere performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, which was internationally televised on PBS.
The Orchestra presents an annual subscription series at Carnegie Hall, is in residence at the Caramoor Festival and appears regularly at BAM performing for Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, the Gershwin Festival, and most recently John Adams' new opera Nixon in China. It has also appeared on Lincoln Center's Great Performers series with Joan Sutherland and Margaret Price and at the Spoleto Festival USA. Among the distinguished artists who
have performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke's are conductors Julius Rudel, James Levine, Lorin Maazel and Michael Tilson Thomas, and soloists Dame Janet Baker, Marilyn Horne, Yo-Yo Ma, Rudolf Serkin and James Galway.
The Orchestra of St. Luke's can be heard on recordings of Beethoven's "Eroica" and Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing and Let 'em Eat Cake for CBS Masterworks, Adams' Nixon in China for Nonesuch and Christmas Classics with Kathleen Battle for Angel. Other projects have included Great Performances "Celebrating Gershwin" on PBS, and the performance of original music for Horton Foote's film On Valentine's Day. Besides the 18 members of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the organization also encompasses the award-winning youth program Children's Free Opera & Dance of New York.
In the US, Mr. Davies has guest conducted the orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and St. Louis, and at the Santa Fe Opera. His conducting engagements in Europe have included the Netherlands Opera, Paris Opera, Hamburg Opera and the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth (where he was the second American ever invited to conduct), the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Orchestre Colonne, BBC (London) Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra and Salzburg Music Festival.
Dennis Russell Davies was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1944. He first attracted public attention in 1968 as co-founder, with composer Luciano Berio, of the Juilliard Ensemble. Mr. Davies has many recordings as pianist and conductor, including a Grammy Award-winning recording of Copland's Appalachian Spring with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He was honored with Columbia University's 1987 Ditson Conductor's Award.
Internationally renowned conductor Dennis Russell Davies became General Music Director of the City of Bonn, West Germany in 1987. He continues as Principal Conductor/Classical Music Program Director of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra), Principal Conductor of the American Composers Orchestra (of which he is cofounder) and Music Director of the Cabrillo Music Festival in California. Mr. Davies served as General Music Director of the Stuttgart Opera from 1980-1987. From 1972-1980, he was Music Director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, leading the orchestra to international recognition through tours and recordings.
