Post by erik on Mar 18, 2023 22:35:58 GMT -5
A decidedly European-sounding symphony from an American composer of the late 19th century is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.
George Whitefield Chadwick: SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN F MAJOR, OP. 22
One of the first American-born composers to have gained a foothold in the concert hall during the late 19th century, George Whitefield Chadwick, even with his training at the New England Conservatory, knew that any burgeoning career he had as a composer would have to include a little bit of “old world” grounding, which is why he spent two years, from 1878 to 1880, studying at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany; and under the tutelage of, among others, Carl Reinicke, Chadwick learned the basics of European classical music, which was fairly stabilized in the Austro-German traditions of Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms (the latter of whom was still very much alive), as well as the Bohemian influences of Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. Those influences are particularly felt in his three symphonies. The third of these, in F Major (sharing the same key and same instrumentation as Brahms’ own Third Symphony) was written in 1893-94, and has a marked Brahmsian influence, adhering to the traditional four-movement form. Chadwick himself conducted the work’s first performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1894; and, along with the Second Symphony (written several years earlier), it caused a lot of American audiences at the end of the 19th century to look upon him as an American Brahms. Away from composing, Chadwick was to have a huge influence on American music as a teacher, particularly of soon-to-be-legendary African-American composers William Grant Still and Florence Price.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra/NEEME JARVI (Chandos)
Included):
Barber: EXCERPTS FROM “VANESSA”
Barber: MUSIC FOR A SCENE FROM SHELLEY, OP. 7
Barber: MEDEA’S MEDITATION AND DANCE OF VENGEANCE, OP. 23-A
George Whitefield Chadwick: SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN F MAJOR, OP. 22
One of the first American-born composers to have gained a foothold in the concert hall during the late 19th century, George Whitefield Chadwick, even with his training at the New England Conservatory, knew that any burgeoning career he had as a composer would have to include a little bit of “old world” grounding, which is why he spent two years, from 1878 to 1880, studying at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany; and under the tutelage of, among others, Carl Reinicke, Chadwick learned the basics of European classical music, which was fairly stabilized in the Austro-German traditions of Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms (the latter of whom was still very much alive), as well as the Bohemian influences of Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. Those influences are particularly felt in his three symphonies. The third of these, in F Major (sharing the same key and same instrumentation as Brahms’ own Third Symphony) was written in 1893-94, and has a marked Brahmsian influence, adhering to the traditional four-movement form. Chadwick himself conducted the work’s first performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1894; and, along with the Second Symphony (written several years earlier), it caused a lot of American audiences at the end of the 19th century to look upon him as an American Brahms. Away from composing, Chadwick was to have a huge influence on American music as a teacher, particularly of soon-to-be-legendary African-American composers William Grant Still and Florence Price.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra/NEEME JARVI (Chandos)
Included):
Barber: EXCERPTS FROM “VANESSA”
Barber: MUSIC FOR A SCENE FROM SHELLEY, OP. 7
Barber: MEDEA’S MEDITATION AND DANCE OF VENGEANCE, OP. 23-A