This Week in Classical Music: August 10, 2020.Foss and the pianists.The German-American composer Lukas Foss was born in Berlin on August 15th of 1922.Unusually gifted musically, he started composing at the age of seven.The Fosses, who were Jewish, emigrated from Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power.They first went to Paris where Lukas studied with several prominent musicians, then in 1937 they moved to the US.Lukas continued his studies at the Curtis Institute where he met Leonard Bernstein; they became lifelong friends.In 1944, Foss gained prominence with his cantata The Prairie on Carl Sandburg’s poem.A year later, when he was 23 years old, Foss became the youngest recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.In 1953 Foss was appointed Professor of Music at UCLA, the position previously occupied by Arnold Schoenberg.He created the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble, directed the Ojai Festival, went on to direct the Buffalo Philharmonic and founded the Center for Creative and Performing Arts in that city.He led and guest conducted a number of orchestras in the US and in Europe and incessantly promoted contemporary music.
Lukas Foss’s early compositions were neo-classical and often populist, as in thisEarly Song from Three American Pieces, 1944 (the solo violin is by Itzhak Perlman, with Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra).Later he turned to serialism and improvisation: here is his Elytres for 2 flutes and chamber orchestra from that period, composed in 1964.The New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble is directed by the composer.Later Foss turned to electronic music.Here is his wonderfully whimsical take on Bach’s Partita in E for solo violin.Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.And here is the interview Lukas Foss gave to Bruce Duffie in 1987.
Two brilliant pianists were also born this week, Aldo Ciccolini on August 15th of 1925 and Julius Katchen, who was born on the same day one year later, in 1926 (Lukas Foss, by the way, was also a brilliant pianist).Ciccolini, an Italian who became a naturalized French citizen, was famous for his interpretation of piano music of his adopted country (his Debussy was exquisite). Katchen, one of the most interesting American pianists of his generation, was a renowned interpreter of the music of Brahms.Katchen died of cancer at the age of 42.We’ll write more about both of these wonderful pianists at a later date.
Foss and the pianists, 2020
This Week in Classical Music: August 10, 2020. Foss and the pianists. The German-American composer Lukas Foss was born in Berlin on August 15th of 1922. Unusually gifted
musically, he started composing at the age of seven. The Fosses, who were Jewish, emigrated from Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. They first went to Paris where Lukas studied with several prominent musicians, then in 1937 they moved to the US. Lukas continued his studies at the Curtis Institute where he met Leonard Bernstein; they became lifelong friends. In 1944, Foss gained prominence with his cantata The Prairie on Carl Sandburg’s poem. A year later, when he was 23 years old, Foss became the youngest recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1953 Foss was appointed Professor of Music at UCLA, the position previously occupied by Arnold Schoenberg. He created the Improvisation Chamber Ensemble, directed the Ojai Festival, went on to direct the Buffalo Philharmonic and founded the Center for Creative and Performing Arts in that city. He led and guest conducted a number of orchestras in the US and in Europe and incessantly promoted contemporary music.
Lukas Foss’s early compositions were neo-classical and often populist, as in this Early Song from Three American Pieces, 1944 (the solo violin is by Itzhak Perlman, with Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra). Later he turned to serialism and improvisation: here is his Elytres for 2 flutes and chamber orchestra from that period, composed in 1964. The New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble is directed by the composer. Later Foss turned to electronic music. Here is his wonderfully whimsical take on Bach’s Partita in E for solo violin. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. And here is the interview Lukas Foss gave to Bruce Duffie in 1987.
Two brilliant pianists were also born this week, Aldo Ciccolini on August 15th of 1925 and Julius Katchen, who was born on the same day one year later, in 1926 (Lukas Foss, by the way, was also a brilliant pianist). Ciccolini, an Italian who became a naturalized French citizen, was famous for his interpretation of piano music of his adopted country (his Debussy was exquisite). Katchen, one of the most interesting American pianists of his generation, was a renowned interpreter of the music of Brahms. Katchen died of cancer at the age of 42. We’ll write more about both of these wonderful pianists at a later date.