Martin Bookspan interviews American contemporary composer William Mayer. Mayer talks about his studies at Yale University with Herbert Baumgartner; about his career as a composer; about his work with pianist William Masselos; and about his son pianist Stephen Mayer. Speaking about the variety of music he composed, Mayer says that he prefers to write show music. He speaks about his work as a treasurer for CRI (Composers Recordings, Inc.). The composer discusses in detail each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Octagon (for piano and orchestra, fifth and seventh movements) (1971), Piano sonata (first movement) (1959) that he composed in twelve-tone technique, Two news items: Hastily formed contemporary music ensemble reveals origins (for soprano and instrumental ensemble), Brass quintet (1965), Messages (for flute, string trio, and percussion) (1973), and Two pastels for orchestra.
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
The WPA Radio Scripts consist of final drafts of radio plays and other texts produced by the Federal Theatre of the Air. Most scripts are from either the New York or Los Angeles offices of the Federal Theatre Project. In some instances copies of scripts for the same program but from different jurisdictions are included in the same series. Notable programs represented in the collection include adaptations of the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde, operettas by Gilbert & Sullivan, a series called A CAPELLA IN BRONZE featuring the WPA Negro Radio Chorus and focusing on stories of particular interest to African-Americans, adaptations of books such as Dickens' PICKWICK PAPERS and plays such as Tolstoy's REDEMPTION, Goldsmith's SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER and Molière's TARTUFFE. A 1939 series celebrating Jazz entitled THE STORY OF SWING devoted episodes to Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey Brothers. TURNING POINTS IN FAMOUS LIVES dramatized key moments in the lives of John Paul Jones, Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Pasteur, Isaac Newton, Billy the Kid, Joseph Stalin, and others. THE LIVING NEWSPAPER, adapted from a concurrent Federal Theatre Project stage series, dramatized contemporary problems facing listeners in daily life.
Content types:
Other
Extent:
73 boxes
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center