parker@psuvax.UUCP (Bruce Parker) (05/01/84)
Perhaps I can shed some light on at least a few of the works: 1961 Symphony No. 7 Walter Piston I don't know the work, but the fellow is pretty conservative though still occasionally interesting. His 6th is a buoyant work, recorded by Munch and the BSO on RCA. 1963 Piano Concerto No. 1 Samuel Barber I heard this in 1975 in Chautauqua, New York. My memory doesn't serve me too well here, but I seem to recall that it was typical of his sterner conservative sensibilities. 1967 Quartet No. 3 Leon Kirchner It's available on a Vox Box set of avant garde American string quartets. Unfortunately it's played by the Concord Quartet -- a real bunch of bozos who have no sympathy or ability for classical or romantic repertoire, not that that matters much here except in terms of ensemble. Buy it anyway -- at least they can play music I haven't heard elsewhere. Still I wish the Juilliard would record this set. 1968 Echoes of Time and the River George Crumb Great piece. I heard and saw it (it is very much a theater piece) at Tanglewood in 1976. There is a lousy recording of it by the Louisville Orchestra with pretty boy Jorge Mester conducting. 1972 Windows Jacob Druckman One of my favorite composers. Again I don't know this work but he has been composing in a progression of interesting styles for years. 1976 Air Music Ned Rorem Again I don't know the work, but Rorem is rather conservative and dull. 1978 Deja Vu for Percussion Quartet Michael Colgrass and orchestra There's a new recording out on New World records. It's performed by Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. The Colgrass is coupled with Druckman's impressionistic "Aureole". I don't know "Deja Vu", but Michael Colgrass's "As Quiet as" is a carefully constructed, enjoyable work. 1980 In Memory of a Summer Day David Del Tredici I've heard this and several others of his Alice series. Frankly I've grown tired of his poverty of invention. His skills seem misguided. He should find another obsession, perhaps bricklaying. 1982 Concerto for Orchestra Roger Sessions I read a favorable review of the piece in the Village Voice when it was premiered in Boston by Ozawa and the BSO. If you know Roger, nothing more be said. If you don't, he's difficult to explain. An inadequate comparison would be to say that he's a romantic Elliott Carter: complex but not as harsh. (This may also be confusing since Carter started out as a romantic. So much for analogies.) Why do I get this feeling that I read somewhere that it was recorded?