Carols from Contemporary Composers, 1952

Contemporary Records is known today for West Coast jazz recordings. But when it was founded in 1951, it primarily featured antiquarians such as the Firehouse Five Plus Two, Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and Kid Ory. It wasn't until July 1952 that the company signed Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars, a seminal West Coast ensemble.

Along with his love for jazz, Contemporary founder Lester Koenig wanted to provide an outlet for the classical composers of the day. One of his first efforts in that realm is this little-known LP of Contemporary Christmas Carols, which came out in 1952, I believe. Contemporary commissioned carols from five young American composers for the album - David Kraehenbuehl, Arthur Harris, Charles Jones, John Gruen and Manus Sasonkin.

The LP comes to us courtesy of my friend Ernie, the Christmas music maven who has seemingly published every obscure Christmas LP on his blog except this one, which he reserved for readers of Big 10-Inch Record.

The carols contained herein all are composed in a conservative, accessible style that will not frighten the horses on your sleigh. But none are truly memorable, nor are they widely performed, to my knowledge.

The five young composers of 66 years ago all have passed on, and none became famous for their music, although each is notable in his own way. The best known is probably John Gruen, for his work as a critic. Here are a few words about each composer.

David Kraehenbuehl (1923-97) was an American composer, theorist, and creator of piano-teaching materials. A student of Paul Hindemith at Yale, he was on the Colorado College faculty, moving to Yale, where he stayed until 1960. Many of his compositions have a religious inspiration.

Arthur Harris (1927-92) was a pianist, composer and arranger who became known for his arrangements for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Philadelphia Orchestra, including much Christmas music. He studied with Stefan Wolpe and Hindemith. He also wrote for Broadway and jazz ensembles, and even did a few industrial musicals.

Charles Jones (1910-97) was Canadian-born composer. He studied at Juilliard with Bernard Wagenaar. He later taught at Mills College with Darius Milhaud, as well as at Juilliard and the Mannes College of Music. A CD of his compositions is available on Albany Records.

Manus Sasonkin (1930-92) studied with Quincy Porter, Hindemith, Gardner Read and Arnold Schoenberg. In addition to composing, Sasonkin taught, was an active harpsichordist, and appeared in and wrote music for theatre productions.

John Gruen (1926–2016) became a well-known cultural critic for the New York Herald Tribune and New York magazine, and was an author and photographer, in addition to his musical works. As a composer, he wrote an early set of songs that was issued on the first ever Elektra LP.

The scrupulous performances on the LP are led by the superb conductor Margaret Hillis. Performing are members of her New York-based Concert Choir, here comprising six voices. Hillis moved to the Midwest in 1957 to found and direct the Chicago Symphony Chorus, which achieved great renown under her direction. Her recording of Masses by Lou Harrison and Wilhelm Killmayer is available on this blog.

Thanks again to Ernie for this transfer and for the complete scans, including labels and texts.

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