Lou Harrison, part 1.
The American composer Lou Harrison (1917-2003) would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. In additon to being a pioneer in the field of world music and just intonation, he was also an excellent melodic poet. His lyrical music was influenced by gamelan, baroque, classical and the first growth spurt of minimal music. Harrison composed pioneering works for percussion, symphony orchestra and chamber music ensembles and rarely avoided sound beauty and harmony. Harrison’s abundant repertoire is lighted in two episodes of Feature. In this first episode a lot of his classical inspired compositions will pass through, including his famous ‘Piano Concerto’ and his very succesful ‘Second Symphony’.
Playlist:
Lou Harrison:
1.‘Recitative’ from ‘Suite for Percussion’ for percussion ensemble (1940) from: Lou Harrison: Music of Lou Harrison. Manhattan Percussion Ensemble CRI Records 613 CD
2-4. ‘First Concerto for Flute and Percussion’ (1939) from: Lou Harrison: In Retrospect. William Winant + Heather Sloan (percussion) and Leta Miller (flute). New World Records 80666-2 CD
5-8. ‘Strict Songs’ for solo singer, chamber choir and orchestra (1955; revised 1992) from: Lou Harrison: In Retrospect. Leroy Kromm (baritone) + University of California, Santa Cruz Chambers Singers + Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nicole Paiement. New World Records 80666-2 CD
9-13. ‘Varied Trio’ for chamber music trio (1986) from: Lou Harrison: La Koro Sutro. David Abel (violin), Julie Steinberg (piano) + William Winant (percussion) New Albion NA015 CD 14-17. ‘Piano Concerto’ (1985) from: Works by Lou Harrison. New Japan Philharmonic + Keith Jarrett (piano) conducted by Naoto Otomo. New World Records 80366-2 CD
18-22. ‘Symphony No 2 (Elegiac)’ (1975) from: Mysterious Mountain: Hovhaness/Harrison. American Composers Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. MusicMasters 7021-2-C CD
Produced by:
