Twentieth Century

Martinů’s Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola: Bohemian Renaissance

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Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) was born in the tower of St. Jakub Church in the small Bohemian town of Polička. He was a notoriously bad student at the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin but was more interested in composing. Briefly, he was a member of the second violin section of the Czech Philharmonic. In 1923, he moved to Paris, where he studied with Albert Roussel and began to compose extensively. Following the …

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Vaughan Williams’ “Household Music” (Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes): Music for the Waiting Hours of War

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The Blitz, a bombing campaign conducted by the Nazi German Luftwaffe against the United Kingdom, began in September of 1940 and lasted eight months. Its climax brought a firestorm which became known as the Second Great Fire of London. It was during this dark period, when professional concerts were in limited supply, that Ralph Vaughan Williams suggested that composers write music for “combinations of all manner of instruments which might be played …

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Prokofiev’s Russian Overture: A Joyous Homecoming

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Even as Stalin’s purges intensified, a homesick Sergei Prokofiev returned permanently to the USSR in 1936. In 1918, he fled Russia, living in the United States and then in Paris. He was lured back with promises of artistic freedom and the ability to travel abroad, both of which ultimately were restricted by Soviet authorities. Composed in 1936, and premiered the same year by conductor Eugen Szenkar and the Moscow State Philharmonic, Russian …

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Remembering Gary Graffman

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Gary Graffman, a renowned American pianist, teacher, and administrator, passed away last Saturday, December 27, at his Manhattan home. He was 97. A child prodigy, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 7, and studied with Isabelle Vengerova. In 1946, he made his professional debut, appearing with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. After winning the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1949, he studied extensively with Vladimir Horowitz …

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John Adams’ “El Niño”: “A Palm Tree”

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By coincidence, a recent post exploring John Adams’ El Niño was published on the 25th anniversary of the work’s premiere in Paris on December 15, 2000. Now, let’s return to El Niño to hear the nativity oratorio’s surreal final moments. In the drama, Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus are on the road to Egypt. They flee the persecution of King Herod, who has decreed that the child be killed. A setting of a poem …

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Arnold Bax’ “I Sing of a Maiden that is Makeless”: The Choir of Westminster Abbey

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Anonymously penned, the 15th century poem, I syng of a mayden, is a mystical meditation on the Annunciation and Nativity of Christ. Elements of Elizabethan polyphony blend with dreamy chromaticism in English composer Arnold Bax’ 1923 five-part a cappella setting of the text. As the five verses unfold, the majestic melody gives way to variation, only to return in the triumphant final moments. This 2017 recording features The Choir of Westminster Abbey, …

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Barber’s Overture to “The School for Scandal”: Reflecting a Playful Spirit

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Composed in 1931, the Overture to The School for Scandal, Op. 5 was Samuel Barber’s first orchestral work. Barber was completing studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, and the piece served as a graduation thesis. Two years later on August 30, 1933, it was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Smallens. The eight-minute-long concert overture appeared on programs across the country, helping to establish Barber as one of the …

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