Sunday Classics: Our Fourth of July All-American Rerun continues with a taste of Ives, more Gershwin, and some Grofé

Last night we began our musical celebration of the Fourth of July with a newly expanded "encore presentation" of our Thanksgiving tribute to "American Treasures." The tribute concludes tomorrow in this same time slot. -- Ken


Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was always a Leonard Bernstein specialty. This is Part 1 of a 1976 performance in which he plays and conducts the New York Philharmonic in London's Royal Albert Hall; Part 2 is here. (The luscious "big tune" finally emerges at 3:03 of Part 2.) The clarinet soloist is of course our own Stanley Drucker, who just retired after the 2008-09 season. At the time he was already approaching 30 years of service with the orchestra -- with another 33 years ahead of him!


No grand propositions to prove this week. Just some deliciously wonderful music, in the Thanksgiving er, Fourth of July spirit.

JUST TO PROVE THIS IS A FOURTH OF JULY POST,
HERE'S SOME MUSIC SPECIALLY CHOSEN FOR THE DAY

F. W. MEACHAM: American Patrol (march)

Goldman Band, Richard Franko Goldman, cond. Capitol/EMI, recorded 1965

CHARLES IVES: The Fourth of July

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman, cond. Argo, recorded September 1994

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. CBS/Sony, recorded 1986

[FOR MORE OF AND ON IVES, tune in to tomorrow's "Sunday Classics on Monday" post.]

JAMES HEWITT: The Battle of Trenton (1792, arr. Roger Smith)
i. Introduction; Army in Motion; Acclamation of Ye Americans; Drum Beats to Arms
ii. Washington's March
iii. Crossing the Delaware; Trumpets Sound the Charge
iv. The Battle; Flight of the Hessians; General Confusion
v. Grief of the Americans for the Loss of Their Comrades Killed in the Engagement
vi. Yankee Doodle; Trumpets of Victory; Finale: General Rejoice

Goldman Band, Richard Franko Goldman, cond. Capitol/EMI, recorded 1965

JOHN PHILIP SOUSA: The Stars and Stripes Forever (march)

Morton Gould and His Symphonic Band. RCA/BMG, recorded Oct. 17, 19, and 26, 1956

Concert Arts Symphonic Band, Felix Slatkin, cond. Capitol/EMI, recorded 1958

Now let's continue with our Special Fourth of July All-American Rerun.

* * *

GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937)

George and Ira Gershwin (center and right)

at the keyboard with Fred Astaire

In last night's installment we sampled the work of Gershwin the theater composer, writing -- with brother Ira -- in both the musical and the operatic genres, and venturing into his concert music with the Variations on "I Got Rhythm." Today we move on to those concert stapeles Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928). We've already got the Rhapsody accounted for, so why don't we just throw in American in Paris? I'm especially fond of two recordings, made at opposite ends of Pennsylvania, the Command recording by William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Eugene Ormandy's Columbia recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I don't have the Steinberg-Command version on CD, but here's the Ormandy.

FOURTH OF JULY EXTRA: I don't have the Steinberg-Pittsburgh Command American in Paris on CD, but I do have their earlier Everest recording, which is also pretty good.

GERSHWIN: An American in Paris


Philadephia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, cond. Columbia/Sony, recorded Jan. 5, 1967

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Everest, recorded c1959

FOURTH OF JULY GERSHWIN BONUS

Lenny B's bursting-with-life 1958-59 Columbia Masterworks coupling of the Rhapsody in Blue (with the Columbia Symphony) and An American in Paris (with the New York Philharmonic) was one of his happiest records, but he wasn't the only composer-conductor-pianist who found his way to Gershwin. In 1971 André Previn recorded a disc for EMI on which he played and conducted the Piano Concerto in F as well as the Rhapsody and conducted American in Paris. I can't say that I hear Previn's considerable keyboard experience with jazz, but in the Rhapsody in particular (where the great English clarinetist Gervase de Peyer, then still the London Symphony's clarinet principal,, plays the famous solo part) his approach is noticeably fleeter-fingered and less emphatic than Lenny's.

GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue

Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, piano and cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded June 23, 1959

London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn, piano and cond. EMI, recorded June 4-6, 1971

GERSHWIN: An American in Paris

New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded Dec. 21, 1958

London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn, cond. EMI, recorded June 4-6, 1971

By the time Gershwin composed An American in Paris, he was confident enough to do his own orchestration, and I think one and all will concede that it's a bang-up job (including those Parisian car horns). Both the 1924 jazz-band arrangement of Gershwin's two-piano original of the Rhapsody in Blue -- which was commissioned by Paul Whiteman for his band -- and the now-standard 1942 full orchestration were done by a longtime Whiteman associate, an expert arranger and a composer of some note in his own right: Ferde Grofé, whose Mississippi Suite was first performed in 1925, with the Grand Canyon Suite following in 1931. Which provides us a natural segue to --

* * *

FERDE GROFÉ (1892-1972)

In writing about Sibelius, I mentioned that my very first three stereo LPs, all featuring Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra included two with works by Sibelius plus the Grand Canyon Suite. I loved that Grand Canyon Suite then, both the work and the performance, and I still do. I don't have that Ormandy Grand Canyon on CD, but I do have his 1967 remake, which is almost as good. And we're going to here it complete, after a bit of "tease," or preview.

We're going to hear two of the five movements separately, starting with the atmospheric opening movement, "Sunrise," and then the movement that might function as a scherzo if this were a symphony, the third, the rhythmically irrepressible "On the Trail" (by donkey or mule, of course). Then we'll hear the whole suite; between "Sunrise" and "On the Trail" comes a beautiful slow movement, "The Painted Desert," and the general plan of the final movementsn is well suggested by their titles, "Sunset" and "Cloudburst."

GROFÉ: Grand Canyon Suite

i. Sunrise

Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson, cond. Mercury, recorded May 1958

iii. On the Trail

John Corigliano, violin; New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, cond. Columbia/Sony, recorded May 20, 1963

i. Sunrise
ii. The Painted Desert
iii. On the Trail
iv. Sunset
v. Cloudburst

Norman Carol, violin; William Smith, celesta and piano; Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, cond. Columbia/Sony, recorded Dec. 12 and 20, 1967


TOMORROW IN "SUNDAY CLASSICS ON MONDAY" --

More "American Treasures": more Copland, more Ives, a smattering of Gottschalk, and Bernstein as composer.


SUNDAY CLASSICS POSTS

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