20,000 vinyl LPs 403: Zoltán Kodály ~ Psalmus Hungaricus

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Zoltán Kodály  ~ Psalmus Hungaricus & Dance Suite

vinyl LP front cover 

 cover photo by 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

This month is the birthday of Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher, Zoltán Kodály who was born on December 16, 1882, in Kecskemét, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary. He is known as the creator of the Kodály method of music education.         

 

 

Zoltán Kodály  ~ Psalmus Hungaricus & Dance Suite

vinyl LP back cover 

photo by Styrous®

 

 

The Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13, is a choral work for tenor, chorus and orchestra by Zoltán Kodály, composed in 1923. The Psalmus was commissioned to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Buda, Pest and Óbuda for a gala performance on 19 November 1923 along with the Dance Suite by Béla Bartók.         

 

Where the Psalmus Hungaricus is reverent, regal and serious, the Dance Suite is full of life, fun, light and joyous. The text is based on the gloss of Psalm 55, "Give ear to my prayer, oh God", by 16th-century poet, preacher, and translator Mihály Vég (hu). libretto's passages of despair and call to God provide opportunities for the composer to address Hungary's tragic past and disastrous post-Trianon Treaty predicament, when it lost over 70% of its national territory. The music reflects the nation's crisis during and after World War I (the partition of the historical Hungary), and the text draws a parallel between the sorrows of King David and the suffering of the Magyars in Ottoman Hungary. Thus, the Psalmus Hungaricus encompasses two and a half millennia of political distress.     

 

The work opens with a terse orchestral prelude Then the solo tenor follows with the aria, Oh, that I had wings like a dove. The chorus responds with a brief, gentle passage, followed by a wordless female choral lamentation, and their cries arfe joined by the tenor's part to the climactic choral assertion that  God shall hear, and afflict them. A dramatic monologue sung by the tenor ensues, continuing nearly to the movement's finale, when the chorus erupts into a joyous declaration.         

 

The first performance outside Hungary of the Psalmus Hungaricus took place with Volkmar Andreae conducting in Zürich on June 18, 1926, This marked a turning point in the international recognition of Kodály as a composer, beyond his renown as an ethnomusicologist and music educator.        

 

 

 

 

 

Zoltán Kodály  ~ Psalmus Hungaricus 

vinyl LP side 1 

photo by Styrous®

 

Zoltán Kodály  ~Dance Suite

vinyl LP side 2 

photo by Styrous®

 

   

Tracklist:
       
Side 1:

        

A - Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13

       
Side 2:
       
B - Dance Suite
       
Companies, etc.
       
    Copyright © – Belock Instrument Corporation
       
Credits:
       
    Choir – The London Philharmonic Choir* (tracks: A)
    Composed By – Bartók* (tracks: B), Kodály* (tracks: A)
    Conductor – Janos Ferencsik*
    Design [Album] – Alex Steinweiss
    Directed By [Technical Director] – Robert Engler
    Engineer [Recording] – Joe Kane (4)
    Liner Notes – Paul Affelder
    Orchestra – The London Philharmonic Orchestra*
    Recorded By [Director] – Raoul Poliakin
    Tenor Vocals – Raymond Nilsson (tracks: A)
        
Notes:
       
This is the first US version for this cat#.

LABELS:
- Silver/turquoise labels with deep groove
- Black and Silver "Everest" & "Stereo" upper arc on either side of the mountain,
- A Certified Stereo-Master Recording
- • T.M. • A Product of Belock Recording Co. • Division of Belock Instrument Corporation

SLEEVE:
- Silver back outer sleeve with dowel rod
- A Certified Stereo-Master Recording
- A Product of Belock Recording Co. • Division of Belock Instrument Corporation
- Printed in U.S.A. *T.M. © 1959 Belock Instrument Corp.

CATALOG NUMBERS:
- SDBR 3022 on front of sleeve, spine (dowel rod) and labels
- SDBR-3022 on back of sleeve and spine (dowel rod)

       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
        

    Other (Catalog No. on Label): SDBR 3022
    Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): SDBR 3022-1 T1 V
    Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): SDBR 3022-2 T2 V

 

Kodály* / Bartók*, Janos Ferencsik*, London Philharmonic Orchestra – Psalmus Hungaricus / Dance Suite
Label: Everest – SDBR 3022, Everest – SDBR-3022
Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo, Silver Back, Dowel Rod
Country: US
Released: 1959
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern, Classical 

           

           

Viewfinder links:        

        

Béla Bartók         

Zoltán Kodály        

        

YouTube links:        

        

Zoltán Kodály ~ 

          Psalmus Hungaricus         

          Tänze aus Galánta    

        

        

         

        

        

        

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, December 16, 2025        
       

 

 

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20,000 vinyl LPs 193: Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

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Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music
vinyl LP front cover detail
sketch by Rodolfo Dei
detail photo by Styrous®

         

Yesterday was the birthday of the Polish composer, Roman Ryterband who was born in Łódź, Poland on 2 August, 1914, to a well to do family of lawyers and musicians. By the age of 12, he was composing music and was encouraged by Alexander Glazunov to pursue a musical career; he performed as a pianist in Łódź and Warsaw during the mid-1930s.           

Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

vinyl LP front cover
sketch by Rodolfo Dei

photo by Styrous®

Touring Western Europe on the eve of World War II, Ryterband was able to board the last train to Switzerland, where he took refuge and worked as a manual laborer alongside other wartime foreigners interned on Swiss territory until the mid-1950s. Except for his sister and her son, his entire family perished in the Holocaust.         

He completed his PhD studies of musicology at the University of Berne, indulging his passion for studying different languages and cultures, and conducting an extensive research of Slavic, Swiss, Italian, Brazilian, Indian, and Negro folk music traditions. They inspired Ryterband to write a number of works utilizing various native idioms as well as author and deliver numerous lectures and articles on indigenous music traditions throughout his life. 

Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

vinyl LP back cover

photo by Styrous®

 

His music represents a cross-pollination of early twentieth century modernists like Debussy and Britten with folk elements present in the works of Bartok, Copland, or Kodaly. Although his career as a composer began with a few short piano works and some popular songs in Poland in the late 1930s, Ryterband came into his own during the World War II years spent in Switzerland. There he completed several large-scale solo piano cycles (24 Variations on a Folk Song, Suite Polonaise, and Three Preludes) and a number of solo and chamber works for harp (Two Images, Sonata for Harp and Two Flutes, Sonata breve and Trois Ballades Hébraïques), as well as many vocal works, choral cantatas and compositions for saxophone and piano.        

Trois Ballades Hébraïques sheet music

Almost forty years after his death, Ryterband’s music remains largely unknown, especially in his native Poland, perhaps because he spent most of his creative life abroad.       

Although most of his catalog is represented by chamber music (often in interesting combinations of instruments), Ryterband also penned a few large-scale orchestral works, including Jubilate Deo for soloists, orchestra, organ and men’s and boys’ choirs (1949), symphonic poems Vida Heroica (1953) and Russian Rhapsody (1962), as well as orchestral ballet music Tableaux of Laguna (1976) and Heracles and the Argonauts (1978).

Heracles and the Argonauts 

Folk and religious music add further diversity to Roman Ryterband’s opus with such entries as Three Hebrew Songs for voice and piano (1938), Song of the Slavonic Plains for violin and piano (1944), Rhapsodia helvetica for trombone and piano (1948), and several songs based on Negro spirituals (The Gospel’s Mah Religion, Yo’ Serbant, So Sing—So Play, Trusty Jim), as well as a number of psalm settings (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Raise Your Heads, O Gates) and settings of traditional texts and poetry in Hebrew, Polish, French and German.      

Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

vinyl LP back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

 

    
The winner of several awards, including the First Prize at ISCM Chicago in 1961 for Piece sans titre for two flutes, Ryterband also received the Kosciuszko Foundation 1977 Award and a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities for a work celebrating American Bicentennial celebrations in 1976.            
        
            

   

Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

   Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music

vinyl LP label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

 

      
Tracklist:

Side 1: 23:16

Sonata Breve for vionlin & harp - 10:02
1 - Allegro agitato 3:03
2 - Adagio pastorale, poi passionato - 3:20
      Vivo e scherzoso - Adagio - 3:39
    Elemér Glanz - Violin, Eva Kauffungen - Harp

3 - Pièce sans Titre for Two Flutes alone - 3:56
    Alexander Magnin, Geoges Guéneux - flutes

    Deux Sonnets for Contralto, Flute & Harp - 9:18
4 - Eroica - 4:43
5 - La Perle 4:45
    Lyn Vernon - Mezzo-Soprano, Alexandre Magnin - Flute, Eva Kauffungen - Harp

Side 2: 20:11

Trois Ballades Hébraïques for Violin & Piano - 11:56
1 - Le Rêveur - 4:19
2 - La Maître Joyeus - 2:35
3 - Berceuse - 5:02
    Elemér Glanz - Violin, Boris Mersson - Piano

    Suite Polonaise for Piano (Three excerpts) - 8:55
4 - Drobny - 3:07
5 - Krakowiak - 2:35
6 - Oberek 3:13
    Boris Mersson - Piano   
    
Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music
Label: Orion Sound, ORS 74167 Stereo
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US



      
  
Viewfinder links:           
           
Béla Bartók       
Benjamin Britten      
Claude Debussy         
Alexander Glazunov        
  
Net links:           

Polish Music Center ~ Roman Ryterband     
UCR ~ Talents Revealed in Composer's Concert         
      
YouTube links:           
      
Roman Ryterband ~            
          3 Ballades hébraïques: No. 1. Le Reveur   
          3 Ballades hébraïques: No. 2. Le Maitre Joyeux      
          3 Ballades hébraïques: No. 3. Berceuse                   
          Le Maître Joyeux for violin & harp  
          Sonata breve: I. Allegro agitato       
          Sonata breve: II. Adagio Pastorale - Poi Passionato      
    

      
  
    

      
Styrous® ~ Saturday, August 3, 2019            

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1,000,001 CDs 11: Hector Berlioz ~ The King of Thule

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Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD case front

photo by Styrous®

Louis-Hector Berlioz was born on this date, December 11, in 1803. As my tribute to him I've chosen the aria, The King of Thule from his work, La damnation de Faust. The aria is up there with the most beautiful melodies in the repertoire of opera.      

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD case back

photo by Styrous®

This version, sung by mezzo-soprano, Frederica von Stade, is my very favorite of all the versions I've heard (link below). It appears in Part Three, scene IX, of La damnation de Faust.     

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD libretto detail 

detail photo by Styrous®

In it, von Stade as Marguerite sings, in French, a tale of a king savoring his last taste of wine from a goblet given to him by his dead loved one before he himself dies.    

Es war ein König in Thule,
Gar treu bis an das Grab,
Dem sterbend seine Buhle
einen goldnen Becher gab.

Es ging ihm nichts darüber,
Er leert' ihn jeden Schmaus;
Die Augen gingen ihm über,
So oft er trank daraus.

Und als er kam zu sterben,
Zählt' er seine Städt' im Reich,
Gönnt' alles seinen Erben,
Den Becher nicht zugleich.

Er saß beim Königsmahle,
Die Ritter um ihn her,
Auf hohem Vätersaale,
Dort auf dem Schloß am Meer.

Dort stand der alte Zecher,
Trank letzte Lebensglut,
Und warf den heiligen Becher
Hinunter in die Flut.

Er sah ihn stürzen, trinken
Und sinken tief ins Meer,
die Augen täten ihm sinken,
Trank nie einen Tropfen mehr

There was a king in Thule,
Was faithful till the grave,
To whom his mistress, dying,
A golden goblet gave.

Nought was to him more precious;
He drained it at every bout;
His eyes with tears ran over,
As oft as he drank thereout.

When came his time of dying,
The towns in his land he told,
Nought else to his heir denying
Except the goblet of gold.

He sat at the royal banquet
With his knights of high degree,
In the lofty hall of his fathers
In the castle by the sea.

There stood the old carouser,
And drank the last life-glow;
And hurled the hallowed goblet
Into the tide below.

He saw it plunging and filling,
And sinking deep in the sea:
Then fell his eyelids for ever,
And never more drank he!

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD libretto 

photo by Styrous®

 

Berlioz was inspired by a translation of the German dramatic poem by Goethe, Faust when he read Part One in 1828. He said, "this marvellous book fascinated me from the first", he recalled in his Memoirs. "I could not put it down. I read it incessantly, at meals, in the theatre, in the street." He was so impressed that a suite entitled Eight Scenes from Faust became his Opus 1 (1829), though he later recalled all the copies of it he could find. He returned to the material in 1845, to make a larger work, with some additional text by Almire Gandonnière to Berlioz's specifications, that he first called a "concert opera", and as it expanded, finally a "dramatic legend".                

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD 1

photo by Styrous®

La damnation de Faust was not originally written for the stage but it is usually presented as an opera. It is a work in four parts and twenty scenes for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, a large children's chorus and orchestra. He called it a "légende dramatique" (dramatic legend). It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 6 December 1846.            

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD 2

photo by Styrous®

The recording is a reissue originally recorded in May, 1981, by Decca and includes a 100 page booklet. It was conducted by Hungarian-born orchestral and operatic conductor, Sir Georg Solti, who was born in Budapest where he studied with Béla Bartók, Leó Weiner and Ernő Dohnányi. In 1961 Solti became musical director of the Covent Garden Opera Company in London. He became music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1969 and conducted 999 concerts with the orchestra. His 1,000th concert was scheduled for October, 1997, around the time of his 85th birthday, but he died suddenly, in his sleep, on September 5, 1997.  

Hector Berlioz ~  La damnation de Faust

 CD libretto
Sir Georg Solti
photo by Decca

photo by Styrous®

Frederica von Stade was born in Somerville, New Jersey, on June 1, 1945. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera on January 10, 1970, She has sung on more than a hundred recordings, including symphonic works, sacred music, operas, musicals, art songs, pop songs, folk songs, jazz and comedy. She now lives in Alameda, California.      

Frederica von Stade

photographer unknown 

          

         

Tracklist:

    The Damnation Of Faust (Dramatic Legend In Four Parts)
    Part One - Plains Of Hungary    
1-1     Scène I - Introduction 'Le Viel Hiver A Fail Place Au Printemps'     6:17
1-2     Scène II - Ronde Des Paysns 'Les Bergers Quittent Leurs Troupeaux'     3:39
1-3     Scène III - 'Mais D'un Éclat Guerrier Les Campangnes Se Parent'     00:55
1-4     Marche Hongroise     4:47
    Part Two - North Germany    
1-5     Scène IV -' Sans Regrets J'ai Quitté Les Riantes Campagnes'     5:13
1-6     Chant De La Fête De Pâques - 'Christ Vient De Ressusciter!'     7:39
1-7     Scène V - 'O Pure Émotion! Enfant Du Saint Parvis!'     2:18
1-8     Scène VI - 'A Boire Encor! Du Vin'     0:25
1-9     Choeur De Buveurs - 'Oh! Qu'il Fait Bon'     2:16
1-10     Chanson De Brander - 'Certain Rat, Dans Une Cuisine'     2:16
1-11     Fugue Sur Le Thème De La Chanson De Brander - 'Amen, Etc!'     2:40
1-12     Chanson De Méphistophélès - 'Une Puce Gentille'     3:53
1-13     Scène VII - Air De Méphistophélès - 'Voici Des Roses'     2:31
1-14     Choeur De Gnomes Et De Sylphes - 'Dors! Dors! Heureux Faust'     6:18
1-15     Ballet Des Sylphes     3:41
1-16     Scène VIII - Choeur De Soldats - 'Villes Entourees De Murs Et Remparts"     1:30
1-17     Chanson D'Étudiants - 'Jam Nox Stellata (Bis) Velamina Pandit'     1:06
1-18     Choeur Des Soldats Et Chanson Des Étudiants - Ensemble     2:15
    Part Three - Marguerite's Room    
2-1     Scene IX - Tambours Et Trompettes Sonnant La Retiraite     1:07
2-2     Air De Faust - 'Merci, Doux Crépuscule! Oh! Sois Le Bienvenu!'     5:18
2-3     Scène X - 'Je L'Entends!'     1:02
2-4     Scène XI - 'Que L'aire Est Étouffant!'     2:55
2-5     Chanson Gothique - 'Le Roi De Thulé"     4:50
2-6     Scène XII - Evocation - 'Esprits Des Flammes Inconstantes'     2:04
2-7     Ménuet Des Follets     5:48
2-8     Sérénade De Méphistophélès Et Choeur De Follets - 'Devant La Maison'     2:04
2-9     Scène XIII - Duo - 'Grands Dieux!'     5:09
2-10     Scène XIV - Trio Et Choeur - 'Allons, Il Est Trop Tard!'     5:04
    Part Four    
2-11     Scène XV - Romance De Marguerite - 'D'Amour L'Ardente Flamme'     10:44
2-12     Scène XVI - Invocation A La Nature - 'Nature Immense, Impénétrable Et Fière'     4:02
2-13     Scène XVII - Récitatif Et Chasse - 'A La Voute Azurée'     3:04
2-14     Scène XVIII - La Course À L'Abîme - 'Dans Mon Coeur Retentit Sa Voix'     3:36
2-15     Scène XIX - Pandaemonium - 'Ha! Irmiru Karabrao!'     4:01
2-16     Epilogue Sur La Terre - 'Alors, L'Enfer Se Tut'     1:11
2-17     Scène XX - Dans Le Ciel - 'Laus! Laus! Hosanna! Hosanna!'     5:13

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Decca Record Company Limited
    Copyright (c) – The Decca Record Company Limited
    Recorded At – Medinah Temple

Credits:

    Art Direction – Nick Findell
    Bass Vocals [Brander] – Malcolm King
    Bass Vocals [Méphistophélès] – José van Dam
    Chorus – Chicago Symphony Chorus, Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus
    Chorus Master – Doreen Rao, Margaret Hillis
    Composed By, Libretto By – Hector Berlioz
    Conductor – Sir Georg Solti*
    Engineer – James Lock (2), Simon Eadon
    Libretto By – Almire Gandonnière, Gérard De Nerval
    Liner Notes – Hugh Macdonald
    Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Marguerite] – Frederica von Stade
    Orchestra – Chicago Symphony Orchestra*
    Producer – James Mallinson
    Tenor Vocals [Faust] – Kenneth Riegel

Notes:

Recording location: Medinah Temple, Chicago, May 1981.
℗ 1982 The Decca Record Company Limited.
© 1986 The Decca Record Company Limited.
Made in USA.

Includes booklet (100 p.) with libretto in German, French and English.

Digital recorder used during session recording, mixing and/or editing, mastering (transcription). Box top illustration: Faust & Mephistopheles by F.V.E. Delacroix, reproduced by permission of the trustees of the Wallace Collection, London. Booklet cover: Hector Berlioz by Emile Signol.
Booklet contains an essay by Hugh Macdonald entitled: "Hector Berlioz - The Damnation Of Faust". Janine Reiss - French Language Coach.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (CD1): 414 681-2 03@
    Matrix / Runout (CD2): 414 682-2 02@
    Label Code: LC 0171
    SPARS Code: DDD
    Barcode: 028941468024

Berlioz* - Kenneth Riegel,  José van Dam, Frederica von Stade, Malcolm King, Chicago Symphony Orchestra* & Chorus*, Sir Georg Solti* ‎– The Damnation Of Faust = Fausts Verdamnis
Label: London Records ‎– 414 680-2
Format: 2 × CD, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Classical
Style: Romantic

        

              

Viewfinder links:    

    

   

         

         

Net links:    

    

Frederica von Stade website   
Frederica von Stade Recordings      

Béla Bartók        

         

             

             

    

YouTube link:  

Frederica von Stade ~ The King of Thule        

         

           

Dedicated to Tom

     
         

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, December 11, 2018     

    

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1,000,001 CDs Archive  

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Gunther Schuller articles/mentions

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Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925 – June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian and jazz musician.        

 

Viewfinder links:    

Gunther Schuller & Third Stream jazz     

 
   

Gunther Schuller 

photographer unknown

mentions:    

Béla Bartók    

Miles Davis       

Eric Dolphy    

Roy Eldridge ~ "Little Jazz" & tritones   

George Gershwin     

Woody Herman       

Paul Klee ~ Dada & Senecio       

Teo Macero         

Charles Mingus          

Maurice Ravel    

Camille Saint-Saëns

    

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Music Notes Articles

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Béla Bartók articles/mentions

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Béla Bartók -1927      
photographer unknown          

 

 

 

mentions:  

Hector Berlioz ~ The King of Thule       

Blood, Sweat & Tears        

Like "Picasso at the Lapin Agile"        

Roman Ryterband ~ Chamber Music          

Gunther Schuller & Third Stream jazz        

          

             

    

         

      

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 Music People 

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Gunther Schuller & Third Stream jazz

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Third Stream jazz is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller to describe a musical genre that is a synthesis of classical music and jazz.   

After World War II in Europe and the United States there was a period of artistic experimentalism. Like the period in France after the Franco-Prussian War (Impressionism) and in the late 19th century, the pre/post World War I period of (Expressionism), the post World War I period of Modernism was no different with composers trying to 'write music for the sake of music' and not attaching it to a social meaning or meant for a social cause (see Darmstadt School).      

Gunther Schuller 

 photographer unknown 

Schuller insisted that "by definition there is no such thing as 'Third Stream Jazz'".       

He noted that while purists on both sides of Third Stream objected to tainting their favorite music with the other, more strenuous objections were typically made by jazz musicians who felt such efforts were "an assault on their traditions." Schuller wrote that "by designating the music as a 'separate, Third Stream,' the other two mainstreams could go about their way unaffected by the attempts at fusion." Because Third Stream draws on classical as much as jazz, it is generally required that composers and performers be proficient in both genres.      

Critics argued that Third Stream—by drawing on two very different styles—dilutes the power of each in combining them. Others reject such notions, and consider Third Stream an interesting musical development.      

In 1981, Schuller offered a list of "What Third Stream is not": 

• It is not jazz with strings.
• It is not jazz played on 'classical' instruments.
• It is not classical music played by jazz players.
• It is not inserting a bit of Ravel or Schoenberg between be-bop changes—nor the reverse.
• It is not jazz in fugal form.
• It is not a fugue played by jazz players.
• It is not designed to do away with jazz or classical music; it is just another option amongst many for today’s creative musicians.

Schuller suggested that a similar fusion was made by Béla Bartók, who earned great acclaim after incorporating elements of Hungarian folk music into his music, which had earlier been heavily influenced by Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss.      

Béla Bartók

photographer unknown

   

Attempts to integrate jazz and classical music began in the early 1900s almost as soon as the former became recognised as a distinct style of music. Some ragtime music drew upon classical music, and symphonic pieces such as Rhapsody In Blue (1924) (link below), by George Gershwin, blended jazz and symphonic music. The piece La création du monde by French composer Darius Milhaud includes jazz-inspired elements, including a jazz fugue. Igor Stravinsky drew upon jazz for several compositions, such as Ragtime, Piano-Rag-Music and the Ebony Concerto (the last composed for jazz clarinetist Woody Herman and his orchestra in 1945) (link below). Other notable composers who utilized jazz elements in at least a few compositions include Maurice Ravel, Bohuslav Martinů, Paul Hindemith, William Grant Still, George Antheil, Aaron Copland, Ernst Krenek, Kurt Weill, Dmitri Shostakovich, Morton Gould, and Leonard Bernstein. Though few of these examples can be strictly classified as Third Stream as they do not involve improvisation, they do demonstrate that there was widespread mutual interest and appreciation between the jazz and classical traditions.  
     

The  work of Duke Ellington  has often been recognized as being among the early efforts to blend the elements associated with both genres. His music has been described as sharing characteristics with that of classical composers such as Delius, Debussy, and Ravel, particularly in impressionistic mood pieces such as Mood Indigo (link below), Dusk, and Reflections in D, as well as in more extended composed works such as Creole Rhapsody, Reminiscing in Tempo and The Tattooed Bride. These tendencies were also shared by his frequent co-composer Billy Strayhorn.     

Duke Ellington

KFG Radio Studio - November 3, 1954
photographer unknown 

The Afro-British composer Reginald Foresythe was one of the first musicians to combine the two genres from the early 1930s onwards. Branding his style "The New Music", his compositions, such as Garden of Weed, Serenade for a Wealthy Widow and the Bach-influenced Dodging A Divorcee were received well by critics but poorly by the British public, who were baffled by its radical style. However, Foresythe's music found a warmer welcome in America, particularly among black musicians, resulting in collaborations with Duke Ellington, Earl Hines and Benny Goodman.   

Reginald Foresythe

photographer unknown

Pianist Art Tatum drew upon elements of classical technique and recorded jazz versions of short pieces by European composers such as Antonín Dvořák (link below), Jules Massenet, and Anton Rubinstein.       

Art Tatum

photographer unknown

Another important jazz-classical fusion was Interlude in B-flat by Artie Shaw recorded in 1935 with the most unusual ensemble of a string quartet, a jazz rhythm section, and Shaw on clarinet and saxophone (link below).      

Artie Shaw

Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images  

Much of the Charles Mingus oeuvre before and after the coining of the term "Third Stream" parallels Schuller's idea. Indeed, the title of Mingus' two-part album Jazzical Moods (1955), a blend of "jazz" and "classical," may have helped to inspire Schuller; the two men were also friends. The immense final work, Epitaph, by Mingus was edited and premiered at Lincoln Center in 1989 by Schuller.  

Charles Mingus - 1960 

photographer unknown

 

Despite the early examples noted above, critic Scott Yanow writes, "it was not until the mid-to-late '50s that more serious experiments began to take place. Schuller, J. J. Johnson, John Lewis and Bill Russo were some of the more significant composers attempting to bridge the gap between jazz and classical music."           

A great example of this is the John Lewis composition for the 1961 production for the San Francisco Ballet, Original Sin, which I will never forget seeing for both the music and the dancing. Produced under the direction of Lew Christensen, it featured Adam and Eve in flesh-tone body tights with a brilliant lighting design that made them appear nude. Of course, 10 years later, dancers actually DID dance nude in ballet. Somehow, the earlier incarnation seemed more stimulating; funny how that works.  

John Lewis ~ Original Sin 

vinyl LP front cover 

photo by Styrous®

 

Yanow also suggests that the impact of Third Stream music was blunted by the rise of free jazz in the late 1950s, which overtook Third Stream as the leading development in jazz. Schuller was heavily involved with the Columbia Records LPs Music For Brass (1957) and Modern Jazz Concert (1958), later re-issued to become what is known as the recording Birth Of The Third Stream (now as CD). The recording greatly helped to push the concept and legitimacy of the style and approach to this music.   

Jazz composer and producer Teo Macero, who went on to produce Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck, was influenced by the Third Stream movement. Other notable examples of the style include Lewis's Modern Jazz Quartet and solo efforts, Teddy Charles, Don Ellis, Gil Evans, Bill Russo, George Russell, Brubeck and his brother, Howard Brubeck, Jacques Loussier and his Play Bach Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Toshiko Akiyoshi, David Amram, Ran Blake, David Baker, and Bob Graettinger. Lewis was instrumental in arranging for Atlantic Records to record Schuller's Jazz Abstractions in 1960 featuring Jim Hall, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Bill Evans. Many free jazz composers and performers, such as Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Yitzhak Yedid, the band Oregon, and Sun Ra, were also influenced by the Third Stream school.    

Fred Tompkins, has forged a style which seems to enjoy the benefits of fully notated composition, while also capturing the strong, propulsive essence of jazz. His early works were often accompanied by the drumming of Elvin Jones and then by other drummers from New York or St. Louis.   

Fred Tompkins

photographer unknown

Examples of recordings that synthesize composed and improvised music are the albums Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis and Gil Evans; European Windows and the film soundtrack Music from Odds Against Tomorrow by John Lewis; Extension by Clare Fischer (as well as the orchestral portions of the Cal Tjader West Side Story and Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen, both arranged by Fischer), Focus and Stan Getz Plays Music from the Soundtrack of Mickey One by Getz and Eddie Sauter; Perceptions by Dizzy Gillespie and J. J. Johnson; Alegría by Wayne Shorter; Scorched by Mark-Anthony Turnage and John Scofield; Wide Angles by Michael Brecker, and Myth of the Cave by Yitzhak Yedid. These albums feature a soloist improvising in a jazz style over a complex composed background. The music of American classical composer Charles Ives has been utilized in this way in the 2014 release Mists: Charles Ives for Jazz Orchestra.       

Composer Krzysztof Penderecki experimented with compositionally guided free jazz improvisation in his Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra. Hans Werner Henze also brought free jazz into his compositions—-notably, in Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer—-though some may consider his use of jazz to be more incorporated texture than synthesis.

Krzysztof Penderecki

photographer unknown

Presently, the contemporary Ukrainian composer-pianist Nikolai Kapustin writes fully notated music in a jazz idiom that fuses the Russian piano tradition with the virtuosic styles of Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and others.

Nikolai Kapustin

photographer unknown

         
       
Viewfinder links:              
                 
Leonard Bernstein          
Eric Dolphy        
Antonín Dvořák      
Duke Ellington       
George Gershwin              
Dizzy Gillespie        
Benny Goodman            
Stan Kenton ~ City of Glass & Third Stream jazz         
Teo Macero        

Art Tatum            
Cal Tjader       
Kurt Weill          
     
Net links:              
                 
Gunther Schuller:           
The World According to Gunther Schuller           
Multiple Streams          

       

YouTube links:              
                 
Béla Bartók ~ Hungarian Folk Melodies for Violin          
Duke Ellington ~ Mood Indigo
Reginald Foresythe ~ Garden of Weed       
George Gershwin ~ Rhapsody In Blue   
John Lewis ~ Original Sin:
         Creation Of The World And Creation Of Adam        
Charles Mingus ~ Jazzical Moods (various selections)    
Camille Saint-Saëns ~ Danse Macabre       
Artie Shaw ~ Interlude in B-flat             
        
 Igor Stravinsky ~ Ebony Concerto (with Benny Goodman)    
Art Tatum ~ Humoresque by Dvorak        
with Louis Andriessen on Creativity (1 hour, 25 minutes)       

with David Amram: "O Pioneers!" (1 hour, 2 minutes)     

       
         

      

      

Styrous® ~  Friday, August 25. 2017      

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