I have been vindicated....

“The Philharmonic tour, despite its artistic success, has been an intellectual failure. In fact, the extensive programming of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Kabalevsky has had repercussions in our consulates and has got all the ‘bright boys’ in Europe saying that we are playing Russians because we have no composers of our own."

..."the highbrow climate in the United States has never been overly hospitable to homegrown compositions."

"America’s best composers merit more than a passing nod on their anniversaries or a story about their disappearance from the concert hall."

William Schuman

As I have been saying.....and yet, these are not my words.  The first quote is from American composer, William Schuman, referring to the New York orchestra's 1955 European tour.  Numbers two and three are from Dartmouth College Associate Professor of Music Steve Swayne, whose article, "Two Composers, Honored Silently," just appeared in the New York Times.  Dr. Swayne vindicates my contention that, all too often, American composers are overlooked in favor of their more renowned European counterparts.  Who knew that 2010 was the centenary of the birth of both Schuman and Samuel Barber?  But I'm sure that the entire world was aware of important anniversaries of Leonard Bernstein (he would have been 90 in 2008) or the other Schumann (Robert with 2 n's), whose 200th birthday was acknowledged (along with Chopin) in 2010.

Samuel Barber

The great Metropolitan opera, Swayne notes, had a golden opportunity to honor Barber and one of the great American operas (mentioned in one of my earlier posts) in his centenary with a performance of Vanessa, first performed in 1958 on a commission from the Met, but not seen in that house since the 1960s.  Instead of acknowledging one of America's (and that company's) great contributions to the art, Mr. Gelb and company elected to dust off Puccini's less inspired La Fanciulla del West, which did receive its first performance there in the year of Barber's birth.  But still.....

When was the last time we heard Yehudi Wyner's Piano Concerto, Henry Brant's Ice Field or Wayne Peterson's The Face of the Night, The Heart of the Dark?  Can't be crap; all have won the Pulitzer Prize in music--in 2006, 2002 and 1992 respectively--and yet, I've never heard (nor heard of) any of them.  Houston, (or substitute any major American city) I think we have a problem.

Karel Husa

By the way, Vanessa won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1958; of course, a Pulitzer is not necessarily an imprimatur of greatness.  Karel Husa won the 1968 prize.  Music for Prague right?  Nope, the third string quartet.


Husa celebrates his 90th birthday on August 7.  Let's not blow this one.  Everybody send him a card.

Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám Karel!