The music of Lou Harrison represents a rare opportunity for advocacy. To begin with, he is unquestionably a major late 20th century composer, and yet little-known. Also, he is both highly accessible and stupendously original. And he is the composer of a Piano Concerto as formidable as any ever composed by an American. The Harrison Piano Concerto (1985) was the centerpiece of Post-Classical Ensemble's sequence of three Harrison events over the past two weeks in DC. Why this American masterpiece is so little performed is a good question. There … [Read more...]
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Honigberg on A Message for Young Musicians and Old Orchestras
You make many good points Joe. Orchestras need to experiment, reach out and indeed many are. In Your...Sato Moughalian on A Message for Young Musicians and Old Orchestras
A fantastic and thought-provoking piece--thank you.Bill on San Francisco’s American Mavericks
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Dear Robert, you should read all the epistula of the great masters being in total distress after hearing their own...ariel on Schubert Uncorked
To compare 19th century music making with to-day is futile - every thing then was quite different ....Robert Berger on Schubert Uncorked
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Joe, Great post, and I'm glad you mentioned the tremendous travel that our fine folks in are doing around NC. It...william osborne on North Carolina’s State-Wide Symphony
Private funding is naturally focused on large urban areas where the wealthy live (even if some exceptions exist.) Public...Joe Townley on Lou Harrison and the Great American Piano Concerto
YouTube has a wealth of American piano concertos posted by various individuals that listeners can peruse. One can survey this...adrienne sirken on Presenting Mahler’s Marriage
Thank you for this description of a fascinating evening's concert. In an era when we are all searching for...