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The “Second New England School” - again

The “Second New England School” - again. The first real “school” of composers in the United States George Whitefield Chadwick Horatio Parker John Knowles Paine Arthur Foote Edward MacDowell Amy Beach Charles Martin Loeffler Frederick Shepherd Converse Henry F. Gilbert.

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The “Second New England School” - again

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  1. The “Second New England School” - again • The first real “school” of composers in the United States • George Whitefield Chadwick • Horatio Parker • John Knowles Paine • Arthur Foote • Edward MacDowell • Amy Beach • Charles Martin Loeffler • Frederick Shepherd Converse • Henry F. Gilbert

  2. The “Second New England School” - again • (The “first” school was an informal group of singing-school masters and composers during and after the American Revolution) • best known was William Billings • Boston enjoyed a unique position because • large number of fine composers • large number of educational institutions • performance opportunities • wonderful social life • the composers met at concerts and clubs, played their music for each other and discussed it freely • many of the composers were prominent teachers

  3. The “Second New England School” - again • Germany held cultural power over European and American musical life • Young composers wrote works proving their competence while developing their own personalities • Their music and significance has never been celebrated

  4. Charles Martin Loeffler1861 - 1935 • A recluse composer in Massachusetts • So taken with modern French musical style, he has been called a French-American • Born in France of German stock • Spent his early years in Russia, Berlin, and Paris • A violinist • Came to NYC in 1881and was pressed into service by Major Henry Lee Higginson at the 1st stand of the violins in the BSO (remained until 1903)

  5. Charles Martin Loeffler1861 - 1935 • An exquisite craftsman, he constantly revised his scores and published little • Interested in unusual instruments and instrumentation • La mort de Tintagiles full orchestra, solo viola d’amore • Inspired by a marionette drama • Character of Tintagiles became identified with Loeffler’sbrother • Always thought of this work in terms of the viola d’amore • Loeffler purchased the viola d’amore in 1897 andthe work was presented on January 7, 1989 by the BSO • Loeffler and Franz Kneisel played the solo parts

  6. La Mort de Tintagiles(The Death of Tintagiles) • A gloomy and macabre story • Orchestration was very interesting • Revised in 1901 with one solo part eliminated • Remains one of his most popular orchestral works • Performance by the Indianapolis Symphony, John Nelson, conductor • The viola d’amore used in this recording • Tomaso Eberle of Naples c. 1775 • Purchased by Loeffler and used in the premiere performance • Given to Isabelle Stewart Gardner in 1903 • Now in the Gardner Museum, in the yellow room

  7. Henry F. Gilbert1868 - 1928 • Great interest in black music • Comedy Overture on Negro Themes (ca. 1906) • The Dance in Place Congo (ca. 1908) • May be the first American to draw on Negro spirituals in a work for orchestra • Also composed works based on Indian sources • Six Indian Sketches (1911) • Indian Scenes (1912) • Called for an American School of Composition

  8. Henry F. Gilbert1868 - 1928 • descendent of the Bay State colonists (1631 and 1640) • works not received as well as Ives • he was a rowdy character • not daring • MacDowell’s first American pupil but largely self-taught • took Dvorak’s dictum to heart and based his work on Negro melodies

  9. Henry F. Gilbert1868 - 1928 • The Dance in Place Congo composed as a symphonic poem in 1906-1908, revised in 1916 • Submitted to the Boston Symphony and dismissed by Karl Muck • Gilbert prepared a ballet version • dedicated to Otto H. Kahn (financier and patron of the Met) • first performed in its ballet form at the Met on March 23, 1918, Pierre Monteux, conductor

  10. Henry F. Gilbert1868 - 1928 • first performance by the BSO on February 20, 1920, Pierre Monteux, conductor • performances of Gilbert’s works were often poor • “Give me a third-rate American conductor over the best European any day!” • suffered from Fallot “blue baby’s” and lived 23 years longer than any other sufferer • still made his life a success as a pioneer in American Music

  11. Frederick Shepherd Converse1871 - 1940 • Student of Paine at Harvard, graduating in 1893 • Studied with Chadwick • Studied in Munich with Chadwick’s former teacher, Rheinberger • Returned to the United States in 1899 and taught harmony at NEC • Taught at Harvard between 1901 - 1907, then resigned to devote himself to composition • Opera The Pipe of Desire produced by the Met in 1910 (the 1st opera by an American to be produced there)

  12. Frederick Shepherd Converse1871 - 1940 • Endymion’s Narrative was composed in 1901 and premiered by the BSO on April 11, 1903 • based on John Keat’s poem Endymion: A Poetic Romance • Also wrote this musical ode to the horseless carriage: Flivver Ten Million: A Joyous Epic • influenced by Honegger’s Pacific 231 • written to signify the 10 millionth Ford “flivver” automobile

  13. Frederick Shepherd Converse1871 - 1940 • premiered by the BSO on April 15, 1927, the full title isFlivver Ten Million: A Joyous Epic Inspired by the Familiar Legend, “The Ten Millionth Ford is Now Serving Its Owner” • Performance by the Louisville Orchestra, Jorge Mester, conductor (recorded October 29, 1975)

  14. Frederick Shepherd Converse1871 - 1940 • a humorous commemoration • “Dawn in Detroit” • “The Call to Labor” • “The Din of the Builders” • “The Birth of the Hero” • “He tries his metal” • “He wanders off into the great world in search of adventure” • “May Night by the Roadside” • “America’s Romance” • “The Joy Riders” • “America’s Tragedy” • “The Collision” • “Phoenix Americanus” • “The hero, righted and shaken, proceeds on his way with redoubled energy, typical of the indomitable spirit of America”

  15. John Alden Carpenter 1876 - 1951 • a descendent of Patricia Mullins and John Alden • native of the Chicago area • family shipping supply business in Chicago • practiced music as an avocation • studied with John Knowles Paine at Harvard and with Edward Elgar in Germany • partial towards French music

  16. John Alden Carpenter 1876 - 1951 • made a considerable stir with Krazy Kat in 1921 • A ballet score first performed by the CSO as an orchestral piece • Subject matter from American pop culture • Comic strip by George Harriman • Uses popular dances of the early jazz era • Orchestration includes “jazz” instruments • piano, saxophone, winds, and brass • References to French and Russian ballet music • Exotic rhythms • first performed as a ballet on January 20, 1922 in New York’s Town Hall

  17. John Alden Carpenter 1876 - 1951 • imagination and sense of humor • jazz age music but not true jazz • first performance as an orchestral piece in December, 1921 in Chicago • Krazy Kat did not hold a place in orchestral repertory because of its visual appeal • George Herriman’s Krazy Kat from Sunday, October 10, 1920 • characters: • a mouse: Ignatz • Officer Pupp • Krazy Kat

  18. John Alden Carpenter 1876 - 1951 • caused a stir in the dance world resulting in Diaghilev’s commissioning him to write a ballet of modern American life • the result was Skyscrapers produced at the Met on February 19, 1926 • Carpenter retired from business in 1936 and began to compose more prolifically • honored, performed, and recorded, his first works are his best

  19. Charles Tomlinson Griffes1884 - 1920 • America’s most successful Impressionist composer • American art-songs • Do Not Go, My Love (1917) • When I Have Sung My Songs (1934) • one of the most exciting young American composers of his generation • born in Elmira, NY • studied with Mary Selena Broughton at Elmira College

  20. Charles Tomlinson Griffes1884 - 1920 • studied in Berlin 1903 - 1907 • studied with Engelbert Humperdinck • returned to the USA in 1907 as music director of the Hackley School for boys • his music began to appear in print in 1909, was regularly performed by 1915, and discussed in various periodicals • The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan was performed by the BSO, Pierre Monteux, conducting, in Boston on November 28 and 29 and at Carnegie Hall on December 19 and 20, 1919

  21. Charles Tomlinson Griffes1884 - 1920 • The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan is one of his best-known works • first composed for piano in 1912, revised in 1915 • played for Busoni, Farwell, and Galston • reworked for orchestra, it became his first orchestral composition • score sent to Damrosch and Stokowski, but it was introduced to the Boston audience by Monteaux in the 1919 - 1920 season

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