Latest Blogger Updates

What's New in the Composers Forum

CD Reviews

Calendar

Latest Podcasts at cacophonous.org

SEQUENZA21/
340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019

Zookeeper:   
Jerry Bowles
(212) 582-3791

Managing Editor:
David Salvage

Contributing Editors:

Galen H. Brown
Evan Johnson
Ian Moss
Lanier Sammons
Deborah Kravetz
(Philadelphia)
Eric C. Reda
(Chicago)
Christian Hertzog
(San Diego)
Jerry Zinser
(Los Angeles)

Web & Wiki Master:
Jeff Harrington


Latest Posts

Virgil T at Norfolk
Chock Full o' New Music in Cleveland
Rodney Lister Cheap Imitation
Sam Solomon
Hey, that's interesting!
Love and Cow Bells
Sorceress of the New Piano
Well, That Was Fun
Naxos Dreaming
Reich@70: Let the Celebrations Begin


 

Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019


Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Virgil T at Norfolk

This summer’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Norfolk New Music Workshop are focusing on the music of Virgil Thomson, both by offering performances of his music (with players and singers including Dawn Upshaw, Susan Narucki, and Gilbert Kalish), and by use of Thomson’s music as a point of departure for the participants in the New Music Workshop which will be devoted to the composition of songs. Among the events are talks by Anthony Tommasini, Chief Classical Music Critic of the New York Times and Thomson’s biographers (Wednesday, June 24, at 7:30 pm), poet and librettist J. D. McClatchy (Wednesday, July 1, at 7:30pm), and composers who were associated with Thomson in various ways, including Ned Rorem (Saturday, June 27, at 3:00pm), Charles Fussell (Thursday, June 25, at 4:00pm), Scott Wheeler (Tuesday, June 25, at 4:00pm) , Deniz Ulben Hughes (Monday, June 29, at 4:00pm), Graeme Koehne (Tuesday, June 30, at 4:00pm), and me (Friday, June 26, at 4:00pm). Concerts including or featuring works of Thomson’s will be on Saturday, June 27, at 8:00pm (recital by soprano Susan Narucki and pianist JJ Penna), Thursday, July 2 and Friday, July 3, at 7:30pm (Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble), Friday, July 17, at 8:00pm, Friday, July 24, at 8:00pm, and Saturday, August 22, at 4:00pm. (Further information is available at www.norfolkmusic.org.)


I would like to think that this might be some kind of beginning of a resurgence of interest in Thomson’s music. I’ve been a little puzzled for a while with certain aspects of the fact that Copland has become THE American composer of that generation. Not that Copland’s music isn’t good–far from it. But of the group of composers who Thomson referred to as “the commando unit,” Copland, Thomson, Sessions, Harris, and Piston, the composers who “put American music on the map” in the 1920s and 30s, at least the first three are really first class composers (there may be some people who want to make cases for Harris and Piston, but most of the music by them I know, anyway, doesn’t come up to the level of the others). Most of the people whose paths cross mine seem not to know any Thomson at all (for that matter, for all the hoopla about Copland, most people seem to know a very thin slice of his work, and the handful of really well know pieces that everybody seems to know aren’t, at least as far as I’m concerned, among his best work).

 



Archives
12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005 01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005 02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005 02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005 02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005 03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005 04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005 04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005 04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005 04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005 05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005 05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005 06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005 10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005 10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005 11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005 11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006 04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006 07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 07/30/2006 - 08/06/2006 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006 08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006 09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006 09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006 04/15/2007 - 04/22/2007 07/01/2007 - 07/08/2007 11/11/2007 - 11/18/2007 05/17/2009 - 05/24/2009 06/21/2009 - 06/28/2009

Powered by Blogger


Subscribe to this feed listing