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.

Howard Swanson and David Diamond

Here is an early 10-inch LP in the American Recording Society (ARS) series mainly devoted to contemporary composers. It presents the first recordings of important works by Howard Swanson (1907-78) and David Diamond (1915-2005), both introduced by Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Swanson's Short Symphony, composed in 1948, was premiered by Mitropoulos with the New York Philharmonic in 1950. Here, the attractive work is performed by an orchestra directed by Dean Dixon. It is likely one of the Viennese ensembles that were busy in the recording studios throughout the 1950s.

Whatever their identity, the orchestra plays well for Dixon, particularly in the beautiful slow movement.

Howard Swanson

This circa 1952 recording was quickly succeeded by a Vanguard LP with Vienna State Opera Orchestra under Franz Litschauer, a reading I have not heard.

ARS followed up on this Swanson composition with another LP that included his Seven Songs, along with works by Roger Goeb and Ben Weber. I have that album and will transfer it later, along with a recording of Swanson's "Night Music" conducted by Mitropoulos.

David Diamond, 1955

David Diamond's Rounds for String Orchestra is possibly his best known work, commissioned by Mitropoulos when the conductor was still in his 20s. The ARS recording is, I believe, its first, and would be soon be joined by competing versions led by Vladimir Golschmann and Izler Solomon. The ARS recording is conducted by the underrated Walter Hendl, leading what is likely another Viennese orchestra.

The music is fascinating, with the formal structure providing ample opportunity for both extraordinary lyricism and exhilarating orchestral virtuosity.

The sound is very good. [Note (June 2023): this recording has been newly enhanced by ambient stereo.]

Deems Taylor and Paul Creston

Recently I asked the readers of this blog if any of a selection of my half-finished transfers would be on interest. I should have asked if any of them were not of interest, because all of them received votes, most of them several.

But the exercise was not without merit - it elicited far more comments than anything else I have ever published here! So I am going to go ahead and share various items as I finish them off. I started off this AM with a post on my other blog of two EPs by a fairly obscure vocalist, Bob Carroll. I had thought that only I would remember him, but no, a few of you did ask for his work.

Taylor in 1931

I suspected that the present post would be more desirable, and sure enough, many of you requested it. This 10-inch LP is one of the American Recording Society series from the early 1950s, combining highly accessible works by contemporary composers Deems Taylor and Paul Creston.

If Taylor's name lives on today, it may be primarily as the narrator of Disney's Fantasia. But he was a formidable presence on the American music scene for several decades, as critic, composer and broadcaster.

"The Portrait of a Lady" is an attractive suite from 1925 that veers between Delius and light music. Taylor, in his capacity as the representative of the New York World, reviewed the premiere himself, commenting, "The audience, probably composed of the composer's relatives, greeted the piece with what seemed to us highly disproportionate cordiality."

Creston

Paul Creston's Partita is from 1937, a relatively early work. Creston was a conservative like Taylor, although his music is less romantic than that of Taylor.

These performances by an anonymous orchestra led by Walter Hendl are better than some of the ARS recordings heard here. Michael Gray's discography claims that the orchestra is actually the Vienna Symphony, and dates the recording to sessions in June 1952. The sound is very good.

Virgil Thomson and Otto Luening

Here is one of the early LPs issued by the American Recording Society, which started as a non-profit with a grant from the Ditson Fund to record works by American composers.

The first side of this album is devoted to what I believe is the initial recording of Virgil Thomson's The River. Thomson has appeared here previously with one of his lesser-known works, the ballet Filling Station. The River, one of the composer's best known works, is a suite derived from the music from Pare Lorentz's 1938 documentary on the Mississippi. Thomson was perfectly suited for the documentary approach and its subject, with his use of simple forms and popular songs, and his tendency to remain just a bit removed from his source material, commenting on it with gentle irony. (One of the key motifs in the first piece is The Bear Went Over the Mountain; I imagine Thomson found this droll.) The combination of his music, Lorentz's Whitmanesque narration and the images became one of the definitive statements of late Depression Americana. The music itself was a major influence on Aaron Copland, heard most directly in Copland's score for the documentary The City.

While Thomson's music for The River is well known, the Otto Luening works herein are not. These days Luening is remembered as a pioneer of electronic music, but these orchestral pieces have little to do with those works. The Prelude on a Hymn Tune makes use of source material from William Billings, an early American composer. It was common for composers in the first half of the 20th century to base a work on a theme by composer of an earlier day. Luening pointedly made use of a theme by an American composer. The other works on the record, Two Symphonic Interludes, are from 1935. (I believe the Prelude is from the same period.) All this music is accessible and accomplished, but not memorable in the way that Thomson's work is.

These performances were recorded in 1953. The "American Recording Society Orchestra" was a Viennese group, probably the Vienna Symphony, and they play the music convincingly. The Thomson is conducted by Walter Hendl, mostly known among record collectors as an accompanist, and the Luening works are led by Dean Dixon, the interesting American conductor who mostly worked in Europe. My friend Fred of the blog Random Classics has been on a one-man crusade to get more notice and recognition for Dixon, so this post goes out to him. Also in the download is a 1952 article on Dixon from The Critic, an NAACP publication.

As mentioned above, the American Recording Society was a non-profit. It was established in 1951, with the works to be chosen by an advisory board that included Luening. The ARS was a record club of sorts; after you signed up, each month you would be offered a new recording. The Society advertised heavily in magazines; the ad below (click to enlarge) is from the January 7, 1952 issue of Life. I think I have that Piston second symphony recording around here somewhere.

First Recording of Ives' Three Places

It's been a while since we had a post of American music. This is a notable one - it includes the first recording of Charles Ives' best known composition, Three Places in New England. This was one of the few Ives recordings to be made in the composer's lifetime.

The orchestra, which may be the Vienna Symphony under another name, plays this difficult music quite well under the leadership of the talented Walter Hendl. His fluid approach seems to suit this music, which can sound overblown with so many things are going on at once.

Walter Hendl

With Ives' music, it helps to have a scorecard, and there is an excellent article on this composition on Wikipedia.

The violin concerto by Robert McBride is a complete contrast. Breezy and virtuosic, it is nicely played by Maurice Wilk, who was active as a soloist, chamber player, and studio musician. This surely must be the only concerto whose three movements are subtitled in show-biz lingo a la Variety - "Sock 10-G," "Lush PixWix," and "B.O. Hypo." McBride taught at the University of Arizona and is perhaps best known for the Mexican Rhapsody that Howard Hanson recorded. He passed away only last year, as did Hendl.

A Classical Discography does identify the orchestra for the McBride as the Vienna Symphony. The sessions were in 1952.

This disk was issued in the same grant-funded American Recording Society series as the first record we featured on this blog a few months ago.

LINK to Ives and McBride