1902. The opening brisk, restless music is recalled after a full

statement of the melody. The first in D major has a vigorous introduction after which unison strings come forth with a robust march tune. The opening introduction is subsequently used as a transition to the trio in which a soaring melody is set against a uniform rhythmic beat. The fourth in G major, known as “Song of Liberty,” is also familiar. Once again the opening consists of spirited march music, and once again the heart of the composition is a broad and stately melody for the strings. This melody receives extended treatment which culminates with a rousing statement by the full orchestra. _Salut d’amour_, for chamber orchestra, op. 12 (1889) is a nostalgic and sentimental piece of music in three-part song form that has become a salon favorite. It is also famous in a transcription for violin and piano. Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1899. His career as a popular musician began in his adolescence when he performed jazz pieces on the piano in an ice-cream parlor in Washington, and after that formed his own jazz group. In 1923 he came to New York where he soon thereafter formed a jazz band which performed at the Kentucky Club in Harlem. Discovered by Irving Mills, the publisher, Ellington was booked for the Cotton Club where he remained several years and established his fame as an outstanding exponent of real jazz—as pianist, conductor of his orchestra, composer, and arranger. He has since joined the all-time greats of jazz music, acclaimed in night clubs, on the Broadway stage and Hollywood screen, over the radio, on records, and in triumphant tours throughout the music world. As a composer Ellington is famous for his popular songs (“Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady” and so forth) and short instrumental jazz pieces (_Black and Tan Fantasy_, _Creole Rhapsody_, _East St. Louis Toodle-oo_, etc.) All this falls within the province of either popular music or jazz, and for this reason cannot be considered here. Ellington has also produced a rich repertory of larger works for orchestra which have a place in the permanent library of semi-classical music in the same way that Gershwin’s larger works do. Skilfully utilizing the fullest resources of jazz techniques, styles, and idioms, Ellington has created in these larger works an authentically American music. He himself prefers to consider many of these works as “Negro music” rather than jazz; nevertheless, in their blues harmonies, jazz colorations, and melodic and rhythmic techniques these works represented jazz music at its very best. Perhaps the most distinguished of these symphonic-jazz works is _Black, Brown and Beige_, an extended work which Ellington introduced with his orchestra in Carnegie Hall, New York, in 1943, and which he described as a “tonal parallel of the Negro in America.” The first movement, “Black,” is a musical picture of the Negro at work, singing at his labors on the docks and levees in the slavery period before the Civil War. An alto saxophone solo brings on a plangent Spiritual, “Come Sunday.” The second movement, “Brown,” represents the wars in which Negroes have participated. A tenor solo sings an eloquent blues of the unsettled condition of the Negro after the Civil War. The contemporary Negro is the inspiration for the finale, “Beige,” utilizing jazz idioms and styles in portraying the period of the Twenties, Thirties and Forties. Many facets of Negro life are drawn in brief musical episodes, including the Negro church and school, and the Negro’s aspiration towards sophistication. The work ends on a patriotic note, prophesying that the Negro’s place in the American way of life is secure. Georges Enesco Georges Enesco was born in Liveni, Rumania, on August 19, 1881. He studied the violin at the Conservatories of Vienna and Paris, winning highest honors in both places. Following the completion of his studies in 1899, he launched a successful career both as concert violinist and as composer. For several years he was the court violinist to the Queen of Rumania, besides making outstandingly successful appearances on the concert stage throughout Europe. His debut as composer took place in Paris before his sixteenth birthday, with a concert devoted entirely to his own works. Success came in 1901 with his _Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1_. Enesco also distinguished himself as a conductor. When he made his American debut—on January 2, 1923 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York City—it was in the triple role of violinist, conductor, and composer. After World War I, Enesco divided his residence between Paris and his native Rumania while touring the music world. He made his last American appearance in 1950 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his debut as violinist; once again he appeared in the triple role of violinist, conductor and composer. He suffered a stroke in Paris in July 1954 and died there on May 4, 1955. After his death, his native village, and a street in Bucharest, were named after him. Enesco was Rumania’s foremost twentieth-century composer. His major compositions range freely over several different styles from nationalism, to neo-classicism, to ultra-modernism. But the works with which he first gained world fame, and which have since had the widest circulation, are those in a national Rumanian style, with Oriental-like melodies and propulsive rhythms all modeled after the exotic folk songs and dances of the Rumanian gypsies. In such a style are his two Rumanian rhapsodies for orchestra: No. 1 in A major, op. 11, no. 1 (1901); No. 2 in D major, op. 11, no. 2 (1902). The first rhapsody is the one played more often. It opens with a languorous subject for clarinet which is soon assumed by other woodwind, then by the strings and after that (in a quickened tempo) by the full orchestra. A passionate gypsy tune follows in the strings; and this is succeeded by an abandoned dance melody in first violins and the woodwind, and an Oriental-type improvisation in solo flute. Now the mood becomes more frenetic, with a rapid succession of whirling folk-dance tunes and rhythms that are carried to a breathtaking climax. Relaxation finally comes with a gentle Oriental melody in clarinet, but this is only a passing phase. The rhapsody ends in a renewed outburst of vitality. In comparison to the first, the second rhapsody is an emotionally reserved piece of music. After a solemn declaration by the strings, there comes an equally sober and restrained folk song in the strings. The dark mood thus projected becomes further intensified with a theme for English horn against tremolo strings and continues throughout most of the rhapsody, except for a brief interpolation of a vigorous dance melody by the solo viola. Leo Fall Leo Fall was born in Olmuetz, Austria, on February 2, 1873. The son of a military bandmaster, he early received music instruction from his father. Then, after attending the Vienna Conservatory, he conducted theater orchestras in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne. An opera, _Paroli_, was unsuccessfully produced in Berlin before Fall settled permanently in Vienna to devote himself to the writing of those charming operettas in an abundantly lyric vein and graceful, sophisticated manner which the Austrian capital favored. His greatest successes were _The Dollar Princess_ in 1907, _The Rose of Stamboul_ (_Die Rose von Stambul_) in 1916, and _Madame Pompadour_ in 1923. He died in Vienna on September 15, 1925. Fall’s most famous operetta is _The Dollar Princess_ (_Die Dollarprinzessin_), selections from which are often given on salon programs. _The Dollar Princess_—book by A. M. Willner and F. Gruenbaum based upon a comedy by Gatti-Trotha—was introduced in Vienna on November 2, 1907. Its first American performance took place on September 6, 1909 at the Knickerbocker Theater in an adaptation by George Grossmith, Jr. Some songs by Jerome Kern were interpolated into the New York production. The “dollar princess” is the heroine of the operetta: Alice Couder, pampered daughter of a New York coal magnate who goes in pursuit of Freddy. When at a lavish party at the Couder mansion she brazenly announces her intention of marrying Freddy without previously consulting him, he leaves her in disgust, and goes off to Canada where he becomes a successful business man. He cannot forget Alice, however. He brings the Couders to Canada on a pretext of discussing with the father a business deal, when he confesses his love to Alice, who no longer is brazen or arrogant. A Viennese operetta must by necessity have a major waltz number, and _The Dollar Princess_ is no exception; “_Will sie dann lieben treu und heiss_” from Act 1, is the most important melody of the operetta. When other selections from this operetta are given they invariably include also the lilting title song from Act 2, and the seductive little duet “_Wir tanzen Ringelreih’n hin einmal und her_.” Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla, Spain’s most significant twentieth-century composer, was born in Cádiz on November 23, 1876. After studying music with private teachers in his native city, and with J. Tragó and Felipe Pedrell in Madrid, he completed in 1905 _La Vida breve_, a one-act opera that received first prize in a competition for native Spanish operas sponsored by the Academia de Bellas Artes. From 1907 to 1914 he lived in Paris where he absorbed French musical influences and became a friend of Debussy and Ravel. In 1914 he was back in his native land; from 1921 to 1939 he lived a retiring existence in Granada, devoting himself to serious composition. He left his native land in 1939 because of his disenchantment with the Franco regime which he had originally favored. Until his death on November 14, 1946, he lived in seclusion in Alta Gracia, in the province of Córdoba, in Argentina. Falla’s art is deeply embedded in the soil of Spanish folk songs and dance. His major works, which number a mere handful, are all evocations of the spirit of Spain in music which, though never a direct quotation from Spanish sources, is nevertheless Spanish to the core in details of melody, harmony, and rhythm. His principal works include a harpsichord concerto, _Nights in the Gardens of Spain_ (_Noches en los jardines de España_) for piano and orchestra, the ballet _El Amor brujo_, and the opera _The Three-Cornered Hat_ (_El sombrero de tres picos_). In Falla’s most effective national idiom are two popular Spanish dances. The _Ritual Fire Dance_ (_Danza ritual del fuego_) is the seventh section from the ballet, _El Amor brujo_ (1915). Trills with the searing intensity of hot flame lead into a languorous Spanish melody for the oboe, behind which moves an irresistible rhythm. This is followed by a second subject more intense in mood, loudly proclaimed by unison horns and after that repeated quietly by muted trumpets. Throughout, this dance has an almost savage ferocity, the music continually punctuated by piercing chords; the dance is finally brought to a frenetic conclusion. The composer himself made a highly effective transcription of this dance for solo piano, and Gregor Piatigorsky for cello and piano. The _Spanish Dance No. 1_ comes from the second act of the opera, _La Vida breve_, with which Falla first achieved recognition. An impulsive rhythmic opening serves as the background for a bold and sensual gypsy melody for horns and strings. The piece ends with rich chords for full orchestra. Fritz Kreisler made a fine transcription of this dance for violin and piano. Gabriel Fauré Gabriel-Urbain Fauré was born in Pamiers, France, on May 12, 1845. His music study took place in Paris with Niedermeyer and Saint-Saëns. After that he served as organist in Rennes and Paris, and held the important post of organist at the Madeleine Church in Paris from 1896 on. In 1896 he also became professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory where, from 1905 until 1920, he was director. In 1909 he was elected member of the Académie des Beaux Arts, and in 1910 made Commander of the Legion of Honor. In the last years of his life he suffered from deafness. He died in Paris on November 4, 1924. Fauré was one of France’s major composers, creator of a considerable library of piano and chamber music as well as works for symphony orchestra which included _Pelleas and Melisande_, a suite (1898) and the _Ballade_ for piano and orchestra (1881). His music is filled with classic beauty, serenity, and a most delicate sensibility and thus makes an appeal only to a highly cultivated music lover. But a few of his works have such melodic charm and appealing moods that they cannot fail to cast a spell even on the untrained listener. _Après un rêve_ is a song, the first in a set of three published as op. 7 (1885), lyrics by Romain Bussine. Exquisite in its sensitive lyricism, this melody has become popular in many transcriptions, some for orchestra, one for violin and piano by Mischa Elman, and another for cello and piano by Pablo Casals. _Dolly_ (1893-1896) is a suite of six pieces for children which the composer originally wrote as a piano duet for Dolly Bardac, daughter of a woman who later became Debussy’s wife. Henri Rabaud orchestrated this suite in 1906, and it was first performed in connection with a ballet staged at the Théâtre des Arts in Paris. In this music the composer looks back on childhood and the world of the child with poetic insight and occasionally a gentle sense of humor; in this respect this suite is not unlike _Children’s Corner_ of Debussy. It opens with “Berceuse,” a gentle melody for the woodwind, which Jacques Thibaud arranged for violin and piano. This is followed by “Mi-a-ou,” a little quartet for muted trumpets. A flute solo dominates “_Le Jardin de Dolly_,” while “_Kitty Valse_” is a light and vivacious waltz tune. In “_Tendresse_” the melody is first heard in strings. A tranquil middle section presents the solo oboe above a harp accompaniment. The closing movement, “_Le Pas espagnol_” is gay and brilliant music that pays homage to Chabrier, composer of _España_. The _Pavane_, for orchestra, op. 50 (1887) is music of stately, classic beauty over which hovers the Hellenic spirit so often found in Fauré’s most significant works. Against an insistent rhythm, the flute offers the haunting refrain of the Pavane. This dance melody is soon shared by the other woodwind, after which it unfolds completely in violins and the woodwind, other strings providing a rhythmic pizzicato accompaniment. A transition in the strings then leads us back to the graceful mood and the gentle lyricism of the Pavane melody. The same subdued and classic repose we find in the _Pavane_ distinguishes another of Fauré’s popular compositions, the _Sicilienne_, for cello and piano, op. 78 (1898). Transcriptions for orchestra of this composition are even more famous than the original version. Friedrich Flotow Friedrich Freiherr von Flotow was born in Teutendorf, Mecklenburg, on April 26, 1812. He was descended from a family that traced its nobility back several centuries. After studying music in Paris with Anton Reicha and Johann Pixis between 1828 and 1830, he wrote his first opera, _Peter und Katharina_. Success came first with _Alessandro Stradella_ introduced in Hamburg in 1844, and was solidified in 1847 with the opera by which he is still remembered, _Martha_. From 1856 to 1863 he was Intendant of the Schwerin Court Theater. He went into retirement in 1880 and died in Darmstadt, Germany, on January 24, 1883. The ebullient melodies with which Flotow flooded his operas made him extremely popular in his day. This same joyous lyricism keeps the overtures to _Alessandro Stradella_ and _Martha_ fresh in the orchestral repertory. _Alessandro Stradella_—introduced in Hamburg on December 30, 1844—was based on a romantic episode in the life of a 17th century opera composer; the libretto was by Wilhelm Friedrich. Stradella elopes with Leonora, whose guardian hires assassins to kill the composer. But Stradella’s singing has such an effect on the assassins that they are incapable of murdering him. They let him go, and in the end the guardian himself is moved to forgive the composer and sanction his union with Leonora. The overture opens with a solemn chant for the brass (Stradella’s song in the last act). Vigorous transitional material leads to a robust song for full orchestra which is soon repeated expressively by the strings. A sprightly tune for strings (the bell chorus of the second act) is given prominent treatment and developed climactically. The mood now alternates between lightness and gaiety with an occasional intrusion of a strong dramatic effect. _Martha_ received its première in Vienna on November 25, 1847. The libretto, by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese was based on a ballet-pantomime by Vernoy de Saint-Georges. “Martha” is Lady Harriet in disguise as a servant girl for the sake of an amusing escapade; and the opera is concerned with her amatory adventures with Lionel, and that of her maid with Plunkett, at the Richmond fair. The complications that ensue when the men discover this deception are eventually happily resolved. The overture begins with a slow introduction which leads into a _Larghetto_ section where considerable attention is paid to the main melody of the quintet at the close of the third act, “_Mag der Himmel euch vergeben_.” The tempo quickens as the lively country dances of the opera are presented. A crescendo reaches towards a fortissimo restatement of the main theme of the third-act quintet, and the overture ends with a brief and energetic coda. Salon orchestras often present potpourris of this opera’s main melodies. Two are always dominant in such potpourris. “The Last Rose of Summer” (“_Qui sola, vergin rosa_”)—an aria sung by the heroine in the second act—is a melody familiar to all; it is not by Flotow, but from an old Irish song, “The Groves of Blarney,” set to a poem by Thomas Moore. The second famous melody from _Martha_ is the beautiful tenor aria from the third act, “_M’Appari_,” in which Lionel expresses his grief when he feels he has lost Martha for good. Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster, America’s foremost song composer, was born in Lawrenceville, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1826. He received no formal musical training. _Tioga Waltz_, in 1841, was his first piece of music to get performed. About a year after that, Foster published his first song, “Open Thy Lattice, Love.” His initial success came with “Oh, Susanna!” for which he received only $100. But “Oh, Susanna!” became so popular soon after its publication in 1848 that it became the theme song (with improvised lyrics) of the Forty Niners on their way to California. Beginning with 1848 he wrote songs for Ed Christy’s Minstrels—at first allowing some of them to appear as Christy’s own creations. It was within the context of the minstrel show that such permanent Foster favorites as “Camptown Races” and “Old Folks at Home” were first performed. Both songs were outstandingly successful and, because of a favorable contractual arrangement with a New York publisher, Foster was earning handsome royalties. Now feeling financially secure, Foster married Jane Denny McDowell in 1850, a relationship that was unhappy almost from the beginning. In 1860 Foster came to New York with the hope of furthering his career as a composer. But by now he was virtually forgotten by the public, and publishers paid him only a pittance for his last songs, many of them mostly hack pieces. Always disposed towards alcohol, Foster now became a habitual drunkard, living in the most abject poverty in a miserable room on the Bowery. He died at Bellevue Hospital on January 13, 1864. Foster was the composer of numerous songs which in various orchestral arrangements are basic to the repertory of every salon or pop orchestra. His greatest songs were inspired by the Negro; they are the eloquent expressions of Northern sentiment about slavery in the South. Foster’s most famous Negro songs are: “Old Folks at Home” (or “Swanee River”), “Massa’s in de Cold, Cold Ground,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Ol’ Black Joe.” When Foster first wrote “Old Folks at Home” his inspiration was an obscure Florida River by the name of “Pedee.” But while writing his song he thought “Pedee” not sufficiently euphonious for his purpose. He went to a map of Florida to find another river, came upon “Suwanee” which he contracted to “Swanee.” Foster was also successful in the writing of sentimental ballads. Here his most important songs were “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair” (written for and about his wife), and “Beautiful Dreamer.” Besides orchestral adaptations of individual songs, Foster’s music is represented on orchestral programs by skilful suites, or ingenious symphonic transcriptions of individual songs, by other composers. Arcady Dubensky’s _Stephen Foster Suite_ is discussed in the section on Dubensky, and Lucien Caillet’s _Fantasia and Fugue on “Oh, Susanna!”_ in the Caillet section. Other composers to make symphonic use of Foster’s melodies are: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (_Humoresques on Foster Themes_); Morton Guild (_Foster Gallery_); and Alan Shulman (_Oh, Susanna!_). Rudolf Friml Rudolf Friml was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on December 7, 1879. He received his musical training at the Prague Conservatory, after which he toured Europe and America as assisting artist and accompanist for Jan Kubelik, the noted violin virtuoso. In 1906, Friml established permanent residence in the United States, making several appearances as concert pianist, twice in the performance of his own Concerto in B-flat. He now published piano pieces, instrumental numbers, and songs which attracted the interest of two publishers, Gus Schirmer and Max Dreyfus. When, in 1912, Victor Herbert stepped out of an assignment to write the music for the operetta _The Firefly_, both Schirmer and Dreyfus recommended Friml as his replacement. _The Firefly_ made Friml famous. Until 1934 he continued writing music for the Broadway stage, achieving further triumphs with _Rose Marie_ in 1924, _The Vagabond King_ in 1925, and _The Three Musketeers_ in 1928. After 1934, Friml concentrated his activity on motion pictures in Hollywood. Friml belongs with those Broadway composers of the early 20th century whose domain was the operetta modelled after German and Austrian patterns. As long as the operetta was popular on the Broadway stage, Friml remained a favorite, for his ingratiating melodies, pleasing sentimentality, winning charm, and strong romantic flair were in the best traditions of the operetta theater. But when the vogue for operettas died down and the call came for American musicals with native settings and characterizations, realistic approaches, and a greater cohesion between text and music, Friml’s day was over. He has produced nothing of significance since the middle 1930’s, and very little of anything else. But the music he wrote for his best operettas has never lost its appeal. _The Firefly_, book and lyrics by Otto Harbach, was introduced in New York on December 2, 1912. The plot concerned a little Italian street singer by the name of Nina (enchantingly played by Emma Trentini). She disguises herself as a boy to get a job aboard a yacht bound for Bermuda, and is first accused and then cleared of the charge of being a pickpocket. Many years later she reappears as a famous prima donna when she is finally able to win the wealthy young man with whom she had fallen in love while working on the yacht. Orchestral potpourris from _The Firefly_ always include three of the songs Emma Trentini helped to make famous: “Giannina Mia,” “The Dawn of Love” and “Love is Like a Firefly.” The melodious duet, “Sympathy,” is also popular. _The Donkey Serenade_, now regarded as one of the favorites from _The Firefly_ score, was not in the original operetta when it was produced on Broadway. Friml wrote it in collaboration with Herbert Stothart for the motion picture adaptation of the operetta released in 1937 and starring Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones. This appealing Spanish-type melody is set against an intriguing rhythm suggesting the jogging movement of a donkey; this rhythm precedes and closes the number, which has become as celebrated in an instrumental version as it is as a song with lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob White. _Rose Marie_, book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II, came to Broadway on September 2, 1924 where it remained for more than a year. The rest of the country became acquainted with this lovable operetta at that time by means of four road companies. The setting is the Canadian Rockies, and the love interest involves Rose Marie and Jim, the latter falsely accused of murder. The Canadian Mounted Police, headed by Sergeant Malone, help to clear Jim and to bring the love affair of Rose Marie and Jim to a happy resolution. Selections in orchestral adaptations most often heard from this operetta include two of Friml’s most famous songs, the title number and “Indian Love Call”; a third delightful song was found in “Totem Tom Tom.” _Rose Marie_ was adapted for motion pictures three times, once in a silent version. _The Vagabond King_ had for its central character the French vagabond poet of the 15th century, François Villon, who is made king for a day. This musical was based on the romance of J. H. McCarthy, _If I Were King_, adapted by Brian Hooker. _The Vagabond King_, which opened on September 21, 1925, was one of Friml’s greatest successes, mainly because of such rousing numbers as “The Song of the Vagabonds,” the caressing waltz melody “Waltz Huguette,” and the love song “Only a Rose,” all often heard in orchestral adaptations. _The Vagabond King_ was made into motion pictures twice, most recently in 1956 starring Kathryn Grayson and Oreste. Julius Fučík Julius Fučík was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on July 18, 1872. He was a pupil of Antonin Dvořák in composition. After playing the bassoon in the German Opera in Prague in 1893, he became bandmaster of the 86th and 92nd Austrian Regiments in which he won renown throughout Europe. He died in Leitmeritz, Czechoslovakia, on September 25, 1916. Fučík wrote numerous dance pieces and marches for band. The most popular of these is the stirring march, _Entrance of the Gladiators_, which became popular throughout the world and is still frequently played by salon orchestras as well as bands. Sir Edward German Sir Edward German was born Edward German Jones in Whitchurch, England, on February 17, 1862. He attended the Royal Academy of Music in London where, in 1895, he was elected Fellow. Meanwhile, in 1888-1889 he became the musical director of the Globe Theater in London. The incidental music he wrote there that year for Richard Mansfield’s production of _Richard III_ proved so popular that Sir Henry Irving commissioned him to write similar music for his own presentation of _Henry VIII_. German subsequently wrote incidental music for many other plays including _Romeo and Juliet_ (1895), _As You Like It_ (1896), _Much Ado About Nothing_ (1898) and _Nell Gwynn_ (1900). He also produced a considerable amount of concert music, including two symphonies and various suites, tone poems, rhapsodies, and a march and hymn for the Coronation of George V in 1911. German was knighted in 1928, and in 1934 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society. He died in London on November 11, 1936. German is most famous for his incidental music for the stage. He combined a graceful lyricism with a consummate skill in orchestration. He also possessed to a remarkable degree the capacity of simulating the archaic idioms of old English music of the Tudor and Stuart periods. Thus the greatest charm of his writing lies in its subtle atmospheric recreation of a bygone era; but a lightness of touch and freshness of material are never sacrificed. Of his incidental music perhaps the most famous is that for Shakespeare’s _Henry VIII_, introduced at the Lyceum Theater in London in 1892 in Sir Henry Irving’s production. German’s complete score consists of an overture, five entr’actes, a setting of the song “Orpheus and his Lute” and other pieces. But what remain popular are three delightful old English dances from the first act; the style and spirit of old English music are here reproduced with extraordinary effect. The three are: “Morris Dance,” “Shepherd’s Dance,” and “Torch Dance.” The best sections of his incidental music to Anthony Hope’s _Nell Gwynn_, produced at the Prince of Wales Theater in 1900, also are revivals of old English dances: “Country Dance,” “Merrymaker’s Dance,” and “Pastoral Dance.” Other delightful dances, often in an old English folk style, are found in his incidental music to _As You Like It_ (“Children’s Dance,” “Rustic Dance,” and “Woodland Dance”) and _Romeo and Juliet_ (“Pavane” and “Torch Dance”). German also wrote several operettas, the most famous being _Merrie England_, text by Basil Hood, first performed at the Savoy Theater in London on April 2, 1902. The setting is Elizabethan England, and the plot involves the love affair of Sir Walter Raleigh and the Queen’s Maid of Honor which upsets Queen Elizabeth since she herself has designs on Sir Walter. German’s score is filled with the most delightful old world jigs, country dances, glees, and melodies imitating the style of old-time madrigals. In addition, there is here an impressive patriotic song (“The Yeomen of England”), Queen Elizabeth’s effective air (“O Peaceful England”), a rousing drinking song by Sir Walter Raleigh, a poignant ballad by the Maid of Honor, and an equally moving love duet by the Maid of Honor and Sir Walter Raleigh. Because of its effective music, rich with English flavors, _Merrie England_ has survived as one of the most popular English operettas of the 20th century, and has often been revived in London. Among German’s many concert works for orchestra one of the most famous is the _Welsh Rhapsody_ (1902). This is a skilful symphonic adaptation of Welsh tunes, the last of which (“Men of Larech”) is utilized by the composer to bring his rhapsody to a powerful culmination. The other Welsh folk songs used earlier by the composer in this rhapsody are “Loudly Proclaim O’er Land and Sea,” “Hunting the Hare,” “Bells of Aberdorry” and “David of the White Rock.” George Gershwin George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1898. Though he received serious musical training in piano from Charles Hambitzer, and in harmony and theory from Edward Kilenyi, he early set his sights on popular rather than serious music. When he was fifteen he found a job as song plugger and staff pianist in Tin Pan Alley where he soon began writing songs. The first to get published was “When You Want ’Em You Can’t Get ’Em” in 1916; in the same year another of his songs, “The Making of a Girl” appeared for the first time on the Broadway stage, in _The Passing Show of 1916_. Gershwin’s first complete score for Broadway was _La, La, Lucille_, and his first smash song hit was “Swanee,” both in 1919. Between 1920 and 1924 Gershwin wrote the music for five editions of the George White _Scandals_ where he first demonstrated his exceptional creative gifts; his most famous songs for the _Scandals_ were “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” and “Somebody Loves Me.” For one of the editions of the _Scandals_ he also wrote a one-act Negro opera to a libretto by Buddy De Sylva—originally called _Blue Monday_ but later retitled _135th Street_. Late in 1923, Paul Whiteman, the orchestra leader, commissioned Gershwin to write a symphonic work in a jazz style for a concert Whiteman was planning for Aeolian Hall, in New York. That jazz composition—introduced on February 12, 1924—was the _Rhapsody in Blue_ with which Gershwin achieved world renown, and which once and for all established the jazz idiom and jazz techniques as significant material for serious musical deployment. From then on, until the end of his life, Gershwin continued to write concert music in a popular style—growing all the time in technical assurance, in the command of jazz materials, and in the inventiveness of his melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic writing. In the eyes of the world he assumed a position of first significance among American composers. For the symphony orchestra he wrote the Piano Concerto in F, _An American in Paris_, _Cuban Overture_, _Variations on I Got Rhythm_, and the _Second Rhapsody_; for solo piano, the three piano preludes; for the stage his monumental folk opera, _Porgy and Bess_. While devoting himself to the concert field, Gershwin did not neglect the popular Broadway theater. He produced a library of remarkable songs for such productions as _Lady Be Good_ (1924), _Oh Kay!_ (1926), _Funny Face_ (1927), and _Girl Crazy_ (1930). The best of these included “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Lady Be Good,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Clap Yo’ Hands,” “’S Wonderful,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” and “But Not for Me.” The lyrics for these and other Gershwin song classics were written by his brother, Ira. In 1930 Gershwin revealed a fresh bent for mockery and satire, together with a new skill for more spacious musical writing than that required for a song, in _Strike Up the Band_, a satire on war. These qualities in Gershwin’s music came to full ripeness in 1931 with the political satire _Of Thee I Sing!_, the first musical ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. In 1931, Gershwin wrote his first original score for motion pictures, _Delicious_. When he returned to Hollywood in 1936 he settled there permanently and wrote the music for several delightful screen musicals, among these being _Damsel in Distress_, _Shall We Dance_, and _The Goldwyn Follies_. The songs he wrote for the last-named revue (they included “Love Walked In” and “Love Is Here to Stay”) were the last pieces of music he was destined to write. He died in Hollywood, California on July 11, 1937, a victim of a cystic tumor on the right temporal lobe of the brain. His screen biography, _Rhapsody in Blue_, was produced in 1945. In 1951, the screen musical, _An American in Paris_ (whose score included several of Gershwin’s songs as well as the tone poem that gave this picture its title) received the Academy Award as the best picture of the year. _Porgy and Bess_ was adapted for motion pictures, in a Samuel Goldwyn production, in 1959. It would be difficult to overestimate Gershwin’s importance in American music. To the popular song he brought the technical skill of a consummate musician, endowing it with a rhythmic, melodic and harmonic language it had rarely before known. By that process he often lifted it to the status of true art. To serious music he contributed the vitality and the spirit—as well as the techniques and idioms—of American popular music; serious musicians throughout the world were inspired by his example to create a serious musical art out of the materials of American popular music. Since his untimely death, his artistic stature has grown in all parts of the civilized world. There will be few today to deny him a place of honor among America’s foremost composers. _An American in Paris_ is a tone poem for symphony orchestra inspired by a European vacation in 1928. It received its world première in New York on December 13, 1928, Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In this music the composer describes the nostalgia of an American tourist for home, and his experiences as he strolls along the boulevards of Paris. It opens with a “walking theme,” a sprightly little tune for strings and oboe; our American is beginning his stroll. As he walks he hears the piercing warnings of taxi horns: Gershwin’s score calls for the use of actual Parisian taxi horns. The American passes a café, and stops for a moment to listen to the sounds of a music-hall melody, presented by the trombones. Then he resumes his stroll, as a second walking subject is heard in the clarinet. A solo violin (which Deems Taylor interpreted as a young lady accosting our tourist!) provides a transition to two main melodies in both of which the American’s growing feeling of homesickness finds apt expression. The first is a blues melody for muted trumpets; the second a Charleston melody for two trumpets. The blues melody receives climactic treatment in full orchestra. After a hasty recollection of the second walking theme, the composition comes to a vigorous conclusion. As Mr. Taylor goes on to explain, the tourist now decides “to make a night of it. It will be great to get home, but meanwhile, this is Paris!” The Concerto in F, for piano and orchestra, was the immediate consequence of Gershwin’s phenomenal success with the _Rhapsody in Blue_. The Concerto was commissioned in 1925 by the New York Symphony Society and its conductor, Walter Damrosch. They introduced it in Carnegie Hall, on December 3, 1925, with the composer as soloist. This work, like its eminent predecessor, is in a jazz style; but unlike the first version of the _Rhapsody in Blue_ it boasts Gershwin’s own orchestration. (From this time on Gershwin would always prepare his own orchestrations for his serious concert music.) There are three movements. The first (_Allegro_) begins with a Charleston theme shared by the woodwind and timpani. The main body of this movement is given over to a spicy jazz tune first heard in the bassoon and after that in full orchestra; to a tender melody for solo piano; and to a lilting waltz for strings with decorative treatment by the piano. The second movement (_Andante con moto_) is lyrical throughout, and at times subtly atmospheric and poetic. Muted trumpet, against harmonies provided by three clarinets, set the romantic stage for the felicitous lyrical thoughts that ensue: a brisk, jazzy, strikingly rhythmic idea for the piano; and a broad, sensual melody for strings. This movement ends in the same sensitive atmospheric mood with which it began. In the finale (_Allegro con brio_) dynamic forces are released. Main themes from the first two movements are recalled with a particularly effective recapitulation of the second theme of the first movement in the strings. The _Cuban Overture_ was written in 1932 after a brief visit to Havana and was introduced at the Lewisohn Stadium in New York, Albert Coates conducting, on August 16, 1932. This is a concert overture for orchestra utilizing native percussion Cuban instruments. The work has three sections played without interruption. The first consists of two melodies, a Cuban theme in strings followed by a second lyrical subject which is placed against the contrapuntal background of fragments from the first Cuban theme. A solo clarinet cadenza leads to the middle section which is a two-voice canon. The ensuing finale makes considerable use of earlier thematic material and ends with an electrifying presentation of a fully projected rumba melody in which prominent use is made of Cuban percussion instruments (cuban stick, bongo, gourd, and maracas). The folk opera, _Porgy and Bess_, was Gershwin’s last work in the field of serious music—and his greatest. It took Gershwin over two years to write his opera, a period during which he spent some time in the opera’s setting of Charleston, South Carolina, absorbing not only local color but also native Negro music whose style he skilfully assimilated into his own writing. He completed his opera in the summer of 1935; on September 30 its world première took place in Boston; and on October 10, it began its New York run. It cannot be said that either critics or audiences were fully aware at the time that they were hearing a masterwork. Some of the Boston and New York scribes found things to admire in the opera, but most of them were highly critical. Olin Downes said “it does not utilize all the resources of the operatic composer or pierce very often to the depths of the pathetic drama.” Lawrence Gilman found Gershwin’s emphasis on the popular element a disturbing blemish while Virgil Thomson did not hesitate at the time to refer to it as “a fake.” The run of 124 performances in New York (followed by a three-month tour) represented a box-office failure. Gershwin himself remained convinced he had written a work of first importance, but regrettably he did not live to see his faith in his opera justified beyond his wildest hopes or aspirations. Revived in New York in 1941 it had an eight-month run, the longest of any revival in Broadway history. More important still, many critics revised earlier estimates. Virgil Thomson now spoke of it as “a beautiful piece of music and a deeply moving play for the lyric theater.” Olin Downes said that Gershwin had here “taken a substantial step, and advanced the cause of native opera.” The New York Music Critics Circle singled it out as the most important musical revival of that season. But still greater triumphs awaited the opera. In 1952, a Negro cast toured Europe under the auspices of the State Department. Before that tour was over, several years later, the opera had been heard throughout Europe, the Near East, in countries behind the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union and Latin America. Everywhere it enjoyed acclaim realized by few contemporary operas anywhere. There were not many dissenting voices in the universal judgment that _Porgy and Bess_ was one of the most significant operas of the twentieth century, and certainly one of the most popular. And its popularity was further enhanced by the stunning production given it by Samuel Goldwyn in motion pictures in 1959. The text of the opera was based on the play _Porgy_, by Dorothy and Du Bose Heyward, produced by the Theater Guild in New York in 1927, which in turn had been adapted from Du Bose Heyward’s novel of the same name. The opera text and lyrics were written by Du Bose and Dorothy Heyward with several additional lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The tragic love affair of the cripple, Porgy, and Bess, a lady of easy virtue, is set in the Negro tenement, Catfish Row, in Charleston, South Carolina. Porgy has found true happiness with Bess for the first time in his life. When Crown, Bess’ old sweetheart returns to claim her, Porgy kills him but manages to elude the law after having been detained a while. Upon returning to Catfish Row he discovers that his Bess had succumbed to the lure of dope, and the gay life in New York offered her by Sportin’ Life. Heartbroken, Porgy jumps in his goat cart to follow Bess to New York and try to bring her back. The main melodic sections of the opera have provided the material for several delightful suites. The most famous is _A Symphonic Picture_ by Robert Russell Bennett, commissioned by Fritz Reiner, the conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1942. Bennett created out of the score an integrated tone poem faithful to Gershwin’s own harmonic and orchestral intentions. The tone poem (or suite) is made up of the following sequences in the order of their appearance: Scene of Catfish Row with the peddler’s calls; Opening Act II; “Summertime” and Opening of Act I; “I Got Plenty of Nuttin’”; Storm Music; “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”; “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and the finale, “Oh Lawd I’m On My Way.” George Gershwin himself prepared an orchestral suite from his opera score in 1936, and conducted it in performances with several major American orchestras in 1936-1937. This manuscript, long forgotten, was found in the library of Ira Gershwin, and was revived in 1959 by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony. Now named _Catfish Row_, to distinguish it from other suites prepared by other musicians, it had five sections: “Catfish Row,” “Porgy Sings,” “Fugue,” “Hurricane,” and “Good Morning, Brother.” Beryl Rubinstein transcribed five of the principal melodies from the opera for piano, and Jascha Heifetz for violin and piano. The three piano _Preludes_ are famous not only in their original version but also in transcriptions for symphony orchestra. The first prelude, in B-flat major, is rhythmically exciting, highlighting the basic elements of the tango and the Charleston. The second, in C-sharp minor, is the most famous of the set. This is an eloquent three-part blues melody. The concluding prelude, in E-flat major, once again like the first one has greater rhythmic than melodic interest, a lively expression of uninhibited good feelings. Besides transcriptions for orchestra by Roy Bargy, Gregory Stone and several others, these preludes have been adapted for violin and piano by Heifetz, for trumpet and piano by Gregory Stone, and for saxophone and piano by Sigurd Rascher. The _Rhapsody in Blue_ was Gershwin’s first work for symphony orchestra and it is the composition with which he first won fame, fortune, and artistic significance. It was commissioned by Paul Whiteman for an all-American music concert planned by that bandleader for Aeolian Hall, New York, on February 12, 1924. With the composer at the piano, the _Rhapsody_ appeared as the tenth and penultimate number of a long program, but it was the work that gave Whiteman’s concert its main interest and significance. The critics the following day were divided in their opinion. On the one hand, Henry T. Finck considered it superior to the music of Schoenberg and Milhaud; equally high words of praise came from Gilbert W. Gabriel, William J. Henderson, Olin Downes, Deems Taylor, and Carl van Vechten. In the opposite camp stood Pitts Sanborn and Lawrence Gilman who described the work as “meaningless repetition” and “trite, feeble, and conventional.” But the opposing opinions notwithstanding, the _Rhapsody in Blue_ immediately became one of the most famous pieces of serious music by an American. It was transcribed for every possible instrument or groups of instruments; it was adapted several times for ballet; it was used in a motion picture. Royalties from the sale of sheet music and records brought in a fortune. Through the years it has never lost its popularity; it is still one of the most frequently performed American symphonic works. Its prime significance rests in the fact that it decisively proved that it was possible to produce good music within ambitious structures utilizing idioms and techniques of American jazz. The _Rhapsody in Blue_ was by no means the first composition to do so; it was preceded by works by Erik Satie, Stravinsky, and Milhaud among others. But due to its enormous popular appeal it was the most influential composition of all in convincing the world’s foremost composers that jazz could be used with serious intent. Undoubtedly it was largely as a result of the triumph of the _Rhapsody in Blue_ that world-famous composers like William Walton, Constant Lambert, Maurice Ravel, Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith among many others produced serious jazz music. Much has been said about its diffuseness of structure, and the inept way its material is developed. But for all its faults, the _Rhapsody in Blue_ remains a vital, dynamic and at times an inspired piece of music. It is filled with wonderful lyricism; its rhythmic cogency is irresistible; its identity is completely American. The work opened with an ascending seventeen-note slide by the clarinet which culminates in the saucy, first theme. A transition in the wind instrument leads to another brisk, jaunty idea for piano. After some development, and several ascending chords in the piano we get to the heart of the rhapsody and to one of the most famous melodies in all contemporary symphonic music: a spacious, rhapsodic song for the strings. The full orchestra repeats it. Two earlier themes are now briefly recalled, the first theme by the full orchestra, the second by the piano. A brief, dramatic coda brings the rhapsody to an exciting conclusion. For the Paul Whiteman concert of 1924, Ferde Grofé provided the orchestration from a two-piano version handed him by the composer. Gershwin later prepared his own orchestration, and it is this version that is now given by all the major symphonic organizations. The _Second Rhapsody_ for orchestra succeeded the more popular _Rhapsody in Blue_ by eight years; it was first performed by the Boston Symphony under Koussevitzky on January 29, 1932. Gershwin originally called this work _Rhapsody in Rivets_ because the opening measures present a strongly rhythmic subject in solo piano suggesting riveting. This “rivet theme” is then taken over by the full orchestra, after which we hear a rumba melody. These ideas are then developed. A piano cadenza brings on a spacious melody, first in strings, and then in brass. All this material is amplified before the rhapsody is swept to an exciting end. This rhapsody was the outgrowth of a six-minute sequence written by the composer for the motion picture, _Delicious_. The sequence was intended to describe the sights and sounds of a city. In the picture only one of the six minutes of this music was retained, but Gershwin liked the rest of it well enough to expand it into a major symphonic work. The _Variations on I Got Rhythm_, for piano and orchestra, was written for a tour of one-night stands made by Gershwin throughout the United States in all-Gershwin programs. Its first performance took place in Boston on January 14, 1934. The main subject is a famous Gershwin song, “I Got Rhythm” which Ethel Merman made famous in the musical comedy _Girl Crazy_. The symphonic work begins with a four-note ascending phrase from the first measure of the song’s chorus, presented by solo clarinet. The theme is then taken over by solo piano and after that by full orchestra, after which the entire chorus is presented by the piano. In the ensuing variations the composer changes not only the basic structure of the song, melodically and rhythmically, but also its mood and feeling, traversing the gamut of emotion from melancholy to spirited gaiety. Still another remarkably effective symphonic adaptation of “I Got Rhythm” was made by Morton Gould, and introduced by him with his orchestra over the CBS radio network in 1944. Gershwin wrote two marches, both with satirical overtones, which are often given at “pop concerts.” Each was meant for a musical comedy. “Strike Up the Band” comes from the musical comedy of the same name, produced on January 14, 1930 starring Clark and McCullough. This was a stinging satire on war and international diplomacy, with America embroiled in a conflict with Switzerland over the issue of chocolates. The march, “Strike Up the Band,” helps deflate some of the pomp and ceremony of all martial music. “Wintergreen for President” comes from _Of Thee I Sing_, the epoch-making satire on politics in Washington, D.C., first produced on December 26, 1931. “Wintergreen for President” is the music accompanying a political torchlight parade whose illuminated signs read “Even Your Dog Loves Wintergreen” and “A Vote for Wintergreen Is a Vote for Wintergreen” and so on. The march music carries over the satirical implications of this procession by quoting such tunes as “Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here,” “Tammany,” “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” This music even carries a hasty recollection of Irish and Jewish music to suggest that Wintergreen is a friend of both these people. Gershwin’s greatest songs are often performed in orchestral transcriptions at all-Gershwin concerts and other “pop performances,” sometimes singly, and sometimes in various potpourris. Besides songs already mentioned in the first part of this section, Gershwin’s greatest ones include the following: “Bidin’ My Time” from _Girl Crazy_; “I’ve Got a Crush On You” from _Strike Up the Band_; “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” from _Shall We Dance_; “Liza” from _Show Girl_; “The Man I Love,” originally meant for _Lady Be Good_ but never used there; “Mine” from _Let ’Em Eat Cake_; the title song from _Of Thee I Sing_; “Soon” from _Strike Up the Band_; “That Certain Feeling” from _Tip Toes_; and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” from _Shall We Dance_. Among those who have written orchestral medleys of Gershwin’s songs are Nathan van Cleve, Fred von Epps, Claude Thornhill, David Broekman, Irving Brodsky, George B. Leeman, and Nathaniel Finston. Henry F. Gilbert Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1868. He attended the New England Conservatory, and studied composition privately with Edward MacDowell, before playing the violin in various theaters. For many years music was a secondary pursuit as he earned his living in a printing establishment, a real-estate agent, factory foreman, and finally an employee in a music-publishing firm. A hearing in Paris of Gustave Charpentier’s opera, _Louise_, proved such an overpowering experience that it inspired him to devote himself henceforth to music alone. In 1902 he helped found in America the Wa-Wan Press which promoted nationalism in American music and published Gilbert’s first works. In these a strong emphasis was placed by the composer upon American folk music and American folk idioms. In 1903 he wrote _Humoresque on Negro Minstrel Tunes_. After that came his famous _Comedy Overture on Negro Themes_ (1905), the symphonic ballet _The Dance in Place Congo_ (1906), the _Negro Rhapsody_ (1913), and _Indian Sketches_ (1921). Here native elements were skilfully fused into a style that was Romantic to produce music that remains appealing for its freshness and vitality. Towards the end of his life, Gilbert was an invalid. Nevertheless, in 1927, he traveled to Germany in a wheel-chair to attend a performance of his _Dance in Place Congo_ at the Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in Frankfurt. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 19, 1928. The _Comedy Overture on Negro Themes_ (1905) is one of Gilbert’s most frequently performed compositions. It is made up of five sections played without interruption. The composer goes on to explain: “The first movement is light and humorous, the theme being made from two four-measure phrases taken from Charles L. Edwards’ book _Bahama Songs and Stories_.... This is followed by a broader, and somewhat slower, phrase. I have here used the only complete Negro tune which occurs in the piece ... formerly used as a working song by roustabouts and stevedores on the Mississippi River steamboats in the old days.... Next comes a fugue. The theme of this fugue consists of the first four measures of the Negro Spiritual ‘Old Ship of Zion.’... It is given out by the brass instruments and interspersed with phrases from the roustabouts’ song.... After this a short phrase of sixteen measures serves to reintroduce the comic element. There is a repetition of the first theme and considerable recapitulation, which leads finally to the development of a new ending or coda, and the piece ends in an orgy of jollity and ragtime.” _Dance in Place Congo_ (1906) is both a ballet and a tone poem for orchestra. Its first version was a pantomime ballet, but soon thereafter the composer adapted his score into a composition for orchestra. The tone poem—describing the barbaric revels on a late Sunday afternoon of slaves in Place Congo, a section on the outskirts of New Orleans—opens in a dark mood which achieves a climax with an outcry in the orchestra. At this point a bamboula melody is heard in full orchestra. It is permitted to gain in intensity until it acquires barbaric ferocity. When the passions are spent, a beautiful romantic section unfolds, occasionally interrupted by a recall of the bamboula theme. Various Negro songs and dances are then presented over an insistent rhythm. The somber mood of the opening is brought back to conclude the composition. _The Indian Sketches_ for orchestra (1921) presents several facets of American-Indian life. “They are,” explains the composer, “for the most part not musical pictures of definite incidents so much as they are musical mood pictures.” There are six sections. The first, a prelude, is music of savage power. This is followed by the subjective music of the “Invocation,” a prayer or supplication of the Great Spirit. “Song of the World” briefly develops a cry of the Kutenai Indians, and “Camp Dance” is a scherzo portraying the lighter side of Indian life. “Nocturne” is a romantic description of the dark forests alive with the distant sounds of birds and animals. The suite concludes with the “Snake Dance,” suggested by a prayer dance for rain of the Hopi Indians in Arizona. Don Gillis Don Gillis was born in Cameron, Missouri, on June 17, 1912. He was graduated from Christian University at Fort Worth, Texas in 1936, after having engaged in various musical activities including the direction of a band and a symphony orchestra, and the writing of two musical comedies produced at the University. Following the completion of his education he became a member of the faculty of Christian University and Southwest Baptist Seminary; served as a trombonist and arranger for a Fort Worth radio station; and played the trombone in the Fort Worth Symphony. In 1944 he became a producer for the National Broadcasting Company in New York, taking charge of many important programs including those of the NBC Symphony. As a composer of symphonies and other orchestral compositions Gillis reveals a refreshing sense of humor as well as a delightful bent for whimsy, qualities which make some of his works ideal for programs of light music. He has often drawn inspiration and materials from American folk music and jazz, consistently producing music that combines sound musical values with sound entertainment. “My feeling,” he has said, “is that music is for the people and the composer’s final aim should be to reach them. And since the people whistle and sing, I should like them to whistle and sing my music.” Thus Gillis aims for simplicity, sincere emotions, and sheer fun. “I have tried to write so that there will be a feeling of enjoyment in the fun of the thing.” _Portrait of a Frontier Town_, a suite for orchestra (1940), is a tuneful composition consisting of five short movements. The title of each of these provides the clue to the programmatic content of the music. The first, “Chamber of Commerce,” portrays the activities of such an organization in a typical American town. “Where the West Begins” tells of the opening of the West through two significant musical subjects, the first for strings, and the second for oboe, flute, and clarinet. “Ranch House Party” is described in the score as “brightly—in a gay manner.” A jovial melody first given by the full orchestra gives prominent attention to percussion instruments. This is followed by a mood picture, “Prairie Sunset” in which the English horn, answered by the clarinet, presents the main melody. The suite concludes with “Main Street Saturday Night,” in which gaiety and abandon alternate with suggestions of nostalgia. _Symphony No. 5½_ (1947), is one of the composer’s wittiest works which he himself subtitled as “a symphony for fun.” It consists almost entirely of jazz melodies, some treated in burlesque fashion; the work also quotes some famous melodies in a facetious manner. The four movements have whimsical titles: “Perpetual Emotion,” “Spiritual?”, “Scherzophrenia” and “Conclusion.” Alberto Ginastera Alberto Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 11,