Script for NYP 16-23: Americana record show

Transcription

1 Script for NYP 16-23: Americana record show (INSERT NATIONAL UNDERWRITING CREDIT #1) (AMBIENCE UP AND UNDER) (THEME MUSIC UP AND UNDER TO "X") AB: and this week. AB: We have an all-american music program featuring works by Ives, Virgil Thomson, William Schuman, and John Knowles Paine in performances from the Philharmonic archives. Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein, and Leopold Stokowski will all conduct The New York Philharmonic This Week. (SLIGHT PAUSE) AB: We begin with music of Charles Ives his Three Places in New England. Sketches of this work date back as far as 1903 and the composer s last revisions to the piece were made in But the bulk of the piece was, written between 1911 and

2 AB: This work is notable for its use of musical quotations and paraphrasing. As the title suggests, it is divided into three movements. These are: I. The "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common subtitled, Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment II. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut III. 'The Housatonic at Stockbridge AB: The piece has become one of Ives' most frequently heard compositions. It showcases most of the signature traits of his style: layered textures, with multiple, simultaneous melodies, many of which are recognizable hymn and marching tunes. We also hear masses of sound, and tone clusters; and sudden, sharp textural contrasts. By paraphrasing American folk tunes, Ives provides the listener with a tangible reference point from which to better access or understand the music. In this way, Ives makes the music accessible even though it makes heavy use of chromaticism which, at the time of its composition, was seen as an avant-garde trait. 45

3 AB: Three Places in New England aims to paint a picture of American ideals, lifestyle and patriotism at the turn of the century. It received it s first public performance On January 10, Nicolas Slonimsky conducted the premiere with his Chamber Orchestra of Boston in New York's Town Hall. Ives financed the concert himself. It was the first complete performance that any of his major orchestral works had ever received. It also became the first work of Ives to be commercially published. AB: We going to hear the work now as recorded by The New York Philharmonic under the direction of Music Director Emeritus Kurt Masur. The audio is provided courtesy of the Philharmonic special editions. Three places in New England by Charles Ives. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC)

4 AB: That was the New York Philharmonic performing music by Charles Ives: Three Places in New England. The performance was recorded live at Avery Fisher Hall during the 1990 s and is commercially available as part of the New York Philharmonic Special Editions Box-Set: Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic. This set is a terrific survey of our recently-deceased Music Director Emeritus. You can learn more when you visit nyphil.org. (SLIGHT PAUSE) AB: It is another former Music Director that will conduct the next music on our broadcast. We ll hear Zubin Mehta lead the Symphony No. 1 by John Knowles Paine as recorded for New World Records. AB: John Knowles Paine lived from January 9, 1839 April 25, 1906 and he was the first Americanborn composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music. He studied organ, orchestration, and composition in Germany and toured Europe for three years. After returning to the US and settling in Boston in 1861, he became a member of the faculty of Harvard, a post that he retained for many years.

5 AB: Paine was one of the dominant musical figures on the musical scene in Boston and together with a group of other composers collectively known as the Boston Six, Paine was one of those responsible for the first significant body of concert music by composers from the United States. (The other five were George Chadwick, Horatio Parker, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, and Amy Beach.) AB: The Grove Music Encyclopedia says of him: Paine served the Harvard community for 43 years. By his presence and by his serious concern with music in a liberal arts college he awakened a regard for music among many generations of Harvard men. His writings testify to his insistence upon the place of music within the liberal arts AB: Paine wasn t prolific as a composer so much as he was a composer of grand-scale works. Noteworthy among these are an opera, a Mass, an oratorio, and numerous orchestral works including two symphonies. We re going to hear the first of these now: The Symphony No. 1 in c-minor, Op. 23. Zubin Mehta conducts the New York Philharmonic.

6 AB: That was the New York Philharmonic performing music by American composer John Knowles Paine: his symphony No. 1 in c-minor. The conductor was Zubin Mehta from a commercial recording made for New World Records. (SLIGHT PAUSE) AB: Coming up after a pause for station identification, we ll hear Leopold Stokowski conduct music of Virgil Thomson and our broadcast will conclude with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Symphony No. 8 by William Schuman. I m Alec Baldwin and you re listening to The New York Philharmonic This Week over the WFMT Radio Network. (FADE OUT) (ID) (FADE IN) AB: Virgil Thomson wrote his opera, The Mother of Us All to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. It chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States. In fanciful style, it brings together characters, fictional and non-fictional, from different periods of American history.

7 The opera was premiered on May 7, 1947 at Columbia University s Branders Matthews Hall with soprano Dorothy Dow as Susan B. Anthony. The European premiere took place in Kensington Town Hall in London on June 26, 1979, and The New York City Opera staged a production in 2000 with Lauren Flanigan as Susan B. Anthony. More commonly heard than the opera, is a Suite of orchestra highlights from the piece known simply as, The Mother of Us All Suite. Here s that music now, from an old WQXR Radiothon recording. Leopold Stokowski conducts the New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC) AB: That was the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leopold Stokowski in music by Virgil Thomson: The Mother of Us All Suite. (SLIGHT PAUSE) AB: To tell the story of the next work on our program is also to tell something of the history of the Philharmonic s home for the last several decades: Lincoln Center. 164

8 AB: It was on May 14th, 1959 that President Dwight D Eisenhower thrust a shovel into the ground on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to signal the start of construction on what was to be the most advanced, most sophisticated and most diverse performing arts center in the world. Never before were so many constituents concert halls, an opera house, a ballet theatre, an enormous performing arts library, a major international teaching school and more to come and live together on a single campus. Lincoln Center was erected as a unique landmark for arts and culture and has remained so ever since opening to the public in September, Part of the mission at Lincoln Center and of the New York Philharmonic too, for that matter, is to not only present masterpieces of the ages but to also present works by contemporary composers. Perhaps it s little surprise then that one of the 20th century s greatest American composers, William Schuman, was commissioned to write a new symphony for Philharmonic Hall s inaugural season

9 The symphony Schuman s 8th--was premiered on October 2nd by the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein as the conductor and seven days later they recorded it, right there in their new home. Here s that recording now. Symphony No. 8 by William Schuman. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic. (MUSIC: Schuman 8th) AB: Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic there in one of the most powerful, dark-hued and intense works by William Schuman: his Symphony No. 8. AB: It is worthy of note that William Schuman not only composed the first work to receive its world-premiere at Lincoln Center but the Pulitzer-prize-winning composer also served as the Center s first president. (SLIGHT PAUSE)

10 AB: We hope you ve enjoyed this journey through the Philharmonic s archives. Remember, you can learn more about the Philharmonic and it s recordings when you visit nyphil.org. While you re there, we hope you ll also check out the rich variety of content on display, free of charge via the Leon Levy Digital Archives. Once again, the address is nyphil.org. (INSERT END CREDITS/CLOSERS)