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
Martin Bookspan interviews American composer and teacher Peter Mennin. Mennin talks about his life; about both of his careers: as the president of Juilliard School and as a symphonic composer; about his work with Juilliard Orchestra; about the future of both types of young contemporary composers: avant-garde and classical music composers. The composer discusses in detail each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Piano concerto (first movement) (1958), Symphony no. 7: Variation-symphony (for full orchestra) (1963-1964).
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews American composer of contemporary classical music Robert Moevs. Moevs talks about his teachers, Walter Piston and Nadia Boulanger; about both of his careers, as a teacher at Harvard University and Rutgers University, and as a composer; and about his students. He discusses each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Attis (text by G. Catullus Veronensis) (1958), A brief mass (for chorus, organ, vibraphone, guitar, and double bass) (1968), Phoenix (for solo piano )(1971), Et occidentem illustra (Dante) (for chorus and orchestra, based on Divina commedia by Dante Alighier) (1964).
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews American composer and pianist Netty Simons. Simons talks about her studies at New York University with Percy Grainger, and later privately with Stefan Wolpe. She speaks about both of her teachers, and compares their personalities and their influences on her works. She discusses avant-garde music, and her career as a composer. The composer also talks about each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Trialogue no. 1: the tombstone told when she died and Trialogue no. 2: myselves grieve (for mezzo-soprano, baritone and viola; text by Dylan Thomas), Silver thaw (for 1 to 8 players) (1969), Five sprays of the snow fountain (for two pianos) (1970); and reads fragments from two poems by D. Thomas.
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews American composer, pianist, and writer on music Phillip Ramey. Ramey comments on his studies composition at DePaul University in Chicago; on his teacher, composer Alexander Tcherepnin; and about musical traditions in Chicago. He talks about his career as a pianist and composer. He discusses each of the following works, which are then played in their entirety: Piano sonata no. 1, Night music (for percussion), Commentaries (for flute and piano), Leningrad rag (freely based on Scott Joplin's Gladiolus rag), 5 Epigrams for piano, 3 Epigrams for violin and piano, and Piano fantasy.
Content types:
Sounds
Formats:
CD
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews American classical music composer and conductor Richard Yardumian. Yardumian talks about his musical family, his older brother Elijah Yardumian, a concert pianist and a product of the Curtis Institute, who served as a musical mentor to his younger brother; about his career as a composer, and his early start to composing at age 14 even before he began his formal musical education. He discusses the twelve-note technique that he created (not the same as twelve-tone system, used in conjunction with the music of Schoenberg and other twelve-tone composers). The composer also discusses each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Armenian suite, Desolate city, Violin concerto (1949), Piano concerto (second and third movements) (1957), and two excerpts from the mass Come Creator Spirit: Holy, Holy, Holy (Sanctus) and Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) (dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Fordham University) (1966).
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews composer Vittorio Rieti. Rieti talks about his studies economics at the University of Milan, where he obtained a doctorate in 1917 that he never used; about his composition studies with Casella, and orchestration with Respighi. He speaks about his career as a composer in Europe and the United States. Speaking about his time in Paris, he talks about ballet music that he wrote for Diaghilev (Barabau being particularly successful), and much incidental music for the Parisian theatre of Louis Jouvet. The composer discusses in detail each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Dance variations (for string orchestra) (1956), Chorale, variations and finale (for two pianos), Concertino (for flute, viola, violoncello, harp, and harpsichord) (1964).
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
Martin Bookspan interviews composer and pedagogue Robert Starer. Starer talks about his career as a composer. He discusses in detail each of the following works, excerpts of which are then played during the interview: Dialogues (for clarinet and piano), On the nature of things: part 5. A little nonsense (anonymous text), and part 6. Grieve not, dear love ( words by John Digby, Earl of Bristol) (for mixed chorus, a cappella), Concerto (third and fourth movement, for violin, cello and orchestra), Concerto a tre (last movement, for clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and strings), and Symphony no. 3 (first and second movement) (1969).
Content types:
Sounds
Extent:
1 recording
Repository/Collector:
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center