I play in my university’s symphony orchestra. For the concert at the end of this quarter, we’re playing two pieces by Samuel Barber (yes, the Adagio for Strings is one of them), a piece by Bernstein, and Copland’s Third Symphony, <rant>which is an ugly, turgid, poorly orchestrated pile of ordure that should be buried for 10,000 years under a mountain in Nevada.</rant>
Anyways, the “all-American” nature of this concert got me to wondering: are any American composers well-known in Europe, or the rest of the world? Does the Vienna Philharmonic ever perform “Appalachian Spring”? Does the Concertgebouw ever play anything by Samuel Barber? John Cage? John Adams? Philip Glass? Have there been any American composers who are well-regarded across the pond?
Oh, and if anyone wishes to try to persuade me that Copland’s Third Symphony is a worthwhile piece, go right ahead; I’ve got to play the damn thing, so I might as well try to make my peace with it.
IANAE, but the composers your have mentioned are all quite famous and indeed well known all around the world. I’m quite positive that your average person in Europe would recognize the melody from Appalachian Spring just as well as over here in North America. Barber’s infamous Adagio for Strings; I couldn’t imagine anyone not recognizing this piece. As for the others, I’m not precisly sure, but I’ll take a pretty big bet that they’ve made a name for themselves not just in the U.S.A, but all over the world.
Copland is well-known for about three pieces, although IMHO the 3rd symphony is too often overlooked
A similar story goes for Gershwin and Barber. Bernstein is known for West Side Story, the Candide overture and lots of good Mahler recordings. Adams and Ives both crop up regularly in the concert hall, and are well-received. Cage and Glass, along with Carter, are well-known amongst anyone interested in contemporary music, and barely recognised outside of those circles.
Sure they play American stuff; just search some websites:
London Symphony:
4 Feb 2004, 7.30pm
Bernstein (Chichester Psalms), Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky (Symphony No 6) feature in this dynamic programme directed by Antonio Pappano.
17 Feb 2004, 7.30pm
Jerry Goldsmith 75th Birthday Concert
Celebrated film and TV composer Jerry Goldsmith returns to the LSO to conduct another thrilling programme including some of his own music.
Vienna Phil:
September 4, 2003, 7:30 PM
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to „Candide"
September 11, 2003, 7:30 PM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony G major, KV 45a, “Lambacher” George Gershwin: Concerto in F
Soloist: Rudolf Buchbinder, Piano
Bobby McFerrin Improvisations a cappella
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 8, F major, op. 93
Didn’t find any Ives or Copland, but I’m sure they’ve heard of them, and I didn’t look very long. Not only does LSO play Bernstein, he conducted them on occasion.
Do you dislike Copland in general, or just Symph. #3? I haven’t played that piece, but I’ve played most of his other orchestral works, and I’ve heard Symph. #3. I’m puzzled by your description as being “ugly” and poorly orchestrated. How is it ugly? I find his orchestrations to be quite effective; what do think is wrong with his orchestration? I wouldn’t want Copland to be the only thing I could ever listen to for the rest of my life, but I certainly find a lot to like about his music.
My collection of classical CDs includes Gershwin, Copland, Barber, Sousa (I like Sousa), and probably others that I can’t remember off the top of my head. I don’t think I’ve got Copland’s Third Symphony … but I wouldn’t expect to have much trouble finding it. (Unlike Sibelius’ Masonic Ritual Music, the lack of which is a major and irritating gap in my Sibelius collection. But I digress.)
So, no, there’s no reason for Americans to feel their composers are second-rate. I think good music is international, and it’s respected everywhere, wherever it comes from.
BBC Radio Three ( the corporation’s classical station ) regulary plays music by all the above mentioned . In addition Barber and Copeland have been featured in *Composer of the Week * where their work and life are examined in detail over five,one hour programmes.
I’ve seen Copland performed in several countries. A highlight was his clarinet concerto at the Albert Hall in the early 80s. I’ve got his Quiet City marked down for my funeral.
I can’t access my classical collection right now (as I’m at work), but I’m sure I can find at least 30 Americans inthere, starting with obvious names like Gerhswin, Copland, Ives, Barber, Glass, Adams, Reich and moving on to names like Grofe, Hanson, Shuman, Harris, Hovhaness, Corigliano, Chadwick and so on.
Thanks for all your replies. Good to know that American composers are capable of “crossing the pond.”
As for Copland’s Third, I can elaborate a little on my complaints. For the “poorly orchestrated”, I’ll admit that I can’t speak to much other than the brass parts (I’m the second trombone), but there are parts that could have been much better orchestrated. For example, the first movement has me switching between low range (with the tuba & basses) and high range (with the french horns) far too frequently, sometimes staying in a given range for as little as half a bar. It’s certainly possible for me to play both ranges for extended periods, but switching quickly back and forth is awkward and won’t sound nearly as good. Similarly, in the second movement, he has the bass trombone running up about a fifth higher than could possibly sound good. And the conductor commented last week that the entire symphony is pitched about a fourth too high for most of the orchestra.
For the “ugly” complaint: in the second movement, there are several locations where I’m alternating minor seconds and major seconds with the first trombone, and there’s just no way to make that sound pleasant, or even acceptably brash; most of the second movement sounds disjointed, more like 80-odd individual players than a single orchestra; I can’t figure out, for the life of me, why Copland insists on changing the key every two or three bars in the fanfare in the fourth movement; and while we brass players tend to enjoy unison fortissimo playing, it gets old real fast when that’s all we do for an entire symphony.
Most of my comments here, by the way, are based on a recording done by the NY Philharmonic under Bernstein; if there’s a better recording out there that makes the piece make more sense, I’d be more than happy to check it out.
Ah, you’re a trombone player - now I see. Copland did that in most of his pieces. All the juicy low stuff is in the second trombone part, and the bass trombone often sits on his butt doing nothing. Ives did the same thing. I’ve never heard an explanation of this, but my personal theory is that maybe he worked with a group that had a bad bass trombone player, so he didn’t give him any important stuff to play. I suspect he thought of it more as “3rd Trombone”, rather than as a different instrument. It’s just one of those mysteries of the trombone world, such as why did Rimsky Korsakov put the solos in the 2nd trombone part rather than the 1st? A lot of times these decisions had to do with what was standard practice at the time. For example, there’s a seemingly strange place in Holst’s The Planets, where the 2nd trombone has a pedal Bb, while the bass trombone has nothing. It makes no sense until you realize that the English used bass trombone in G, which can’t play that note.
