by Daniel Hathaway
Brown-Forward has posted an obituary for Azica Records founder Bruce Egre, who died on September 23 at the age of 61, noting that “Private services due to Covid-19 restrictions will be held at Fairmount Presbyterian Church.” Egre’s extensive audio career is documented in this AllMusic list of recordings he engineered.
HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:
On Saturday, the Akron Symphony Interlude Series presents a live concert at Hale Farm and Village, and Oberlin Conservatory streams the first in a series of large ensemble works on Oberlin Stage Left. On Sunday, the Cleveland Composers Guild streams its 28th “Creativity: Learning Through Experience XXVIII” event, and Akron’s Urban Troubadour take a virtual stroll through galleries, hotels, bars & other Akron locations with videos of past performances. Details in the Concert Listings.
SAVE THE DATES — NEW CALENDAR EVENTS:
Les Délices’ Monday evening, bi-weekly SalonEra programs continue on October 5. Read a press release about the month’s episodes here.
Organist Christopher Houlihan, who played all of Louis Vierne’s Symphonies in a cross-country marathon in 2012, is sponsoring a Vierne Festival honoring the former organist of Notre-Dame in Paris on the 150th anniversary of his birth. The online event runs from October 5-8, includes interviews with concert manager Philip Truckenbrod and Notre-Dame organist Olivier Latry, and culminates in a performance of the composer’s 4th Symphony in the chapel of Trinity College, Hartford. Details here.
In lieu of Opera Western Reserve’s production of Verdi’s La traviata, scheduled for November 13, the company will stream “A Taste of Traviata” on November 13 including excerpts from the opera, behind-the-scenes extras, and educational material. The program will be recorded at OWR’s home, Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown. Read the press release here.
FEATURED VIDEO:
M.U.S.i.C — Stars in the Classics, has shared a video with excerpts from its September Garden Concerts. Watch here.
WEEKEND ALMANAC:
Where to begin? On September 26, 1800, New England composer William Billings died in Boston, French conductor Charles Munch was born in Strasbourg (1891), American composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn (1898), American composer and trombonist William Dawson was born in Anniston, Alabama (1990), Hungarian composer Bela Bartók died in New York City (1945), and American composer Gabriela Lena Frank was born in Berkeley, California (1972).
And on September 27, American composer Vincent Youmans was born in New York City in 1898, German composer Engelbert Humperdink died in Neustrelitz (1921), and English composer Gerald Finzi died in Oxford (1956).
I’ll pick just three musical excerpts in tribute to Munch, Dawson, and Finzi.
Here’s a clip of a 1966 Boston Symphony performance of “The Shepherds’ Farewell to the Holy Family” from Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ conducted by Charles Munch with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. It’s special to me because I sang in this luminous performance of a work that should be heard more frequently (the entire piece is available on DVD — see the notes).
William L. Dawson brought the Tuskegee Institute Choir to such a level that the ensemble was invited to sing six daily performances at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall in 1932. His arrangements of spirituals are classics, and his Negro Folk Symphony was premiered by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. Here’s a performance of Dawson’s arrangement of I Wan’ to be Ready by the Cleveland State University Chorale, Brian Bailey, director, at an April, 2019 Brownbag Concert at Trinity Cathedral.
Gerald Finzi is one of those British composers (like Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams) who combine a native tendency toward the pastoral with a highly individual musical language. A particularly striking work of Finzi’s is his solo cantata Dies Natalis, settings of metaphysical texts by 17th-century Anglican clergyman Thomas Traherne. Click here for a performance led by Finzi’s son Christopher with tenor Wilfrid Brown and the English Chamber Orchestra (you can follow along with the score).