WorldView Episode 19: Independence Day
By Hinke Younger
Happy July Fourth! In honor of the national holiday, WorldView episode nineteen contains a 200-year timeline of American classical music—from 1770 to 1970. Rather than focus on one specific composer in this week’s post, I’ve included three artists featured in the episode. Have a safe and happy holiday!
Charles Ives: Sometimes considered ‘the father of American classical music’, Charles Ives was internationally renown as a composer and musician. A graduate of the music program at Yale University, Ives composed mainly from the 1890s to 1910s; much of his work featured “quoted” tunes from other famous classical works. Like so many composers on WorldView, he experimented with other tonal structures and and incorporated hymnal and folk tunes into his music. Although he was largely ignored during the first part of his career, Ives has become one of the best known American composers of all time. In this episode, Philip Quint and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra perform Ives’s “Variations on ‘America’”, written in 1891.
Ruth Seeger: Born in Ohio in 1901, Ruth Crawford Seeger was a member of the so-called “ultra-moderns”, a group of composers prominent in the emerging world of modernist classical music. Active in the 1920s and 1930s, Seeger studied at the American Conservatory of Music with artists such as Louise Robyn and Adolf Weidig. Her first decade of compositions was influenced and inspired by Alexander Scriabin (WorldView Ep. 18), and drew heavily on spiritual and folk themes. In her later years, Seeger worked with groups at the Library of Congress to teach and catalog American folk music through the Archive of American Folk Song. Three of her children—Pete, Peggy, and Mike Seeger—were folk musicians as well. Seeger’s work “Diaphonic Suite No. 1”, written in 1930, is performed by the Ensemble Aventure and Pellegrini Quartet.
Leroy Anderson: John Williams referred to Leroy Anderson as “one of the greatest American masters of light orchestral music”, a genre defined by short, bright pieces, that are less defined than a symphony or concerto but just as interesting to compose. His most widely known work is “Sleigh Ride”, written in 1948 and inspired by a heatwave two years earlier. The majority of his works were premiered by the Boston Pops Orchestra, and many “pop” groups continue to perform his pieces today. This episode of WorldView features Anderson’s “Lullaby of the Drums”, recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Leanord Slatkin. It was written in 1970, and marks the end of the 200-year timeline.
| WorldView Episode Nineteen Playlist:
~1770: John ANTES, “Three Chorales”, {Los Angeles Philharmonic Trombone Ensemble} – Crystal Records 1860: Stephen FOSTER, “Beautiful Child of Song”, {Jan Degaetani (sop), Gilbert Kalish} – Etcetera 1891: Charles IVES, “Variations on ‘America’ (arr. William Schumann)”, {Philip Quint (vln), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Jose Serebrier} – Naxos 1919: George GERSHWIN, “O Land of Mine, America”, {Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – Erich Kunzel / Central State University Chorus – William Henry Caldwell} – Telarc 1924: John Philip SOUSA, “Foxtrot: Peaches and Cream”, {Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra, Keith Brion} – Naxos 1930: Ruth SEEGER, “Diaphonic Suite No. 1”, {Ensemble Aventure, Pellegrini Quartet} – cpo 1955: Leonard BERNSTEIN, “Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs”, {Benny Goodman (cl), Columbia Jazz Combo, Leonard Bernstein} – CBA 1966: Miriam GIDEON, “Of Shadows Numberless”, {Margaret Mills (pf)} – Newport Classic 1970: Leroy ANDERSON, “Lullaby of the Drums”, {BBC Concert Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin} – Naxos |
WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world – except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Gabriela Montero and Bright Sheng, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 9AM and again at 6PM on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.
