From the Back Room: Music by Cowell and Ward

The 20th century American composers Henry Cowell and Robert Ward have both appeared here before; in this post we have the Symphony No. 7 from the former and two short orchestral works from the latter.

This is the first post in the second tranche of music from Buster's Back Room: projects rescued by popular acclaim from my own procrastination.

Cowell and Ward were one of the clear winners in the plebiscite; I had no idea folks were still interested in these unfashionable but rewarding composers.

Henry Cowell

For Cowell (1897-1965), the seventh symphony is one of the finest works of his "mature" period, where he put his piano-busting tone clusters aside for more euphonious material.

In his High Fidelity review, Alfred Frankenstein put Cowell's evolution into context: "As Sidney Cowell observes in her jacket notes, the work 'marks the absorption into Cowell's modal style (conspicuous since 1941) of the dissonant polyphonic and harmonic techniques that first established his reputation.' Translated into more general terms, this means that the symphony exhibits a bolder, more monumental, and more personal exploration of folkloric material than was common in Cowell's earlier music; it carries on where the Third Symphony of Ives leaves off and continues the Ives tradition in the noblest vein."

Robert Ward

From Robert Ward (1917-2013), we have his Jubilation Overture and an Adagio and Allegro for Orchestra. Alfred Frankenstein commented, "The solid, horn-colored, somewhat Harris-like sonorities of Robert Ward on the other side of the record are reproduced more successfully than Cowell's open polyphony. Both pieces are very big and broad in style; they convey the epic note without pose or forcing, and they should go far toward increasing interest in the work of this extremely able composer."

Both works were written during World War II, while Ward was in the Army. The Adagio and Allegro are from 1944, and Jubilation - presumably titled in celebration of war's end - was written the following year.

William Strickland

The reviewers were not particularly happy with the performances of the Vienna Symphony under conductor William Strickland (1914-91). Alfred Frankenstein had this to say: "The thinness and lack of clarity in the sound may be due as much to the performance as to the registration; at times one feels as if Strickland were struggling with a half-rehearsed ensemble containing not more than a dozen strings."

Actually, to a degree the skinny sound is an artifact of the recording, although the Vienna Symphony does not have the tonal allure of the same city's Philharmonic. This quality of performance and recording was the norm from the continental ensembles who recorded for such labels as the American Recording Society at the time. This particular release was on the M-G-M label, which also was committed to contemporary American music. The recording was subsidized by the American Composers Alliance.

Strickland, too, was devoted to promoting American music. He was one of the founders of the Nashville Symphony, and was its conductor until 1951.

I believe these are the only recordings of the Cowell symphony and Ward's Adagio and Allegro. There is a later recording of the latter's Jubilation.

For anyone interested in these composers, Cowell's Symphony No. 4 can be found here; Ward's Symphony No. 1 is here and his Symphony No. 3 is here.

LINK

Robert Ward's Symphony No. 1; Alexei Haieff's Piano Concerto

Here are two fine mid-century works by two of the leading composers of the time, Robert Ward (1917-2013) and Alexei Haieff (1914-1994).

Robert Ward

Ward has appeared here before with his Third Symphony; today's work was his first effort in that form. This is the first time that I have featured one of Haieff's compositions on the blog.

Ward, born in Cleveland, attended the Eastman School as an undergraduate. His First Symphony dates from 1941, when he was a graduate student at Juilliard. It is a relatively brief, tonal but dramatic work, showing his early mastery.

Alexei Haieff

Haieff was born in Russia and came to the U.S. in 1931. He was a Juilliard student later in that decade, then went to Paris for work with Nadia Boulanger. He composed his piano concerto in 1947-48 while at the American Academy in Rome. It received its premiere in 1952 with Leo Smit as the soloist and Stokowski conducting.

This recording, made even before the premiere in October 1951, also features the excellent Smit. The conductor is Walter Hendl; discographer Michael Gray identifies the "American Recording Society Symphony" as the Vienna Symphony, which ARS often engaged for these sessions. Gray does not have a listing for the Ward symphony; however, it was likely recorded at about the same time, perhaps in 1951, when its conductor, Dean Dixon, was leading other ARS performances with the Vienna Symphony.

The orchestral work is very good for such unfamiliar scores, and the recordings are well balanced. The cover is unsigned, but appears to be by Peter Piening, a commercial artist who did much work for ARS.

Music by Robert Ward and Leon Stein

A quick post today to mark the passing of a distinguished American composer, Robert Ward, who died earlier this week.

Robert Ward

Ward is best known for his opera The Crucible but his orchestral music is very worthwhile. This present post has his Symphony No. 3, which dates from 1950.

This entirely sympathetic performance is by the Cincinnati Symphony conducted by its then music director, Thor Johnson. The recording was issued in 1955, although I believe it was actually made the year before.

Thor Johnson

A quotation from Ward's website is helpful as a quick introduction to his music: "In every aspect of his composition, Ward consciously expresses his philosophy and interpretation of American idealism, which have become part of his being during a long and varied career. As a composer who enjoys the rich palette of life in the United States to its fullest, Robert Ward proudly represents himself as a truly 'American' composer."

Ward was part of New York's musical life for many years before moving to Winston-Salem to become chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Leon Stein

Also on this record are the Three Hassidic Dances by another American composer, Leon Stein, who was associated with De Paul University in Chicago for many years. The dances are from 1940-41 and were an outgrowth of the composer's interest in the ecstatic and mystical aspects of Hasidim. The performance is vigorous and confident.

These recordings were subsidized by the American Composers Alliance during a short-lived agreement with Remington, an interesting budget label of the time. The sound is reasonably good, but as often the case with Remington, the surfaces were not quiet. However, the end result is pleasing and the music is in any case excellent.

LINK to 2026 remastered version