Quincy Porter Conducts Quincy Porter

When I recently asked readers to vote on whether they wanted me to post a variety of music I had transferred, this was one of the most frequently requested items.

There is a lively interest around here in American music of the last century, and Quincy Porter is one of the leading composers of conservative, tonal music from that era.

Porter was literally a son of Yale; a grandson, too - both his father and grandfather were professors there, and Porter himself both was educated at the New Haven school and spent a good part of his career there.

Overtone Records, which issued this disc in 1955, was located in New Haven and drew upon the Yale faculty for its performers. For this particular production of Porter conducting his own works, it contracted the Concerts Colonne Orchestra of Paris, and noted engineer André Charlin.

On the program are two middle-period compositions, Porter's Symphony No. 1 and Dance in Three Time, both from the 1930s, and his Concerto Concertante, which had won a Pulitzer Prize the year before this record was made.

Quincy Porter

I can't say the results met my own expectations, which may be more a commentary on me than anything else. The music left little impression and the sound, while good and no doubt truthful, lacks impact. Porter's grim look on the cover just about sums up my personal reaction. I am sure many of you will enjoy this more than I did.

[Note (May 2023): This is now available remastered in ambient stereo, which has made a marked improvement in the sound - and gave me a far more positive view of the music as a result.]

The download includes cover scans, as always, along with a copy of the detailed program note insert that came with the record.