New World Music Festival

11/05/2014

Thanks to 'Life, Love, Song! A Visit with Gena Branscombe' for this post.

"Charles Theodore Pachelbel (1690-1750)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KttyQAkpWJY

OK, no picture of this composer.....read on. It's day 5 of American Music Month. Please click "LIKE" when you finish reading this post. Be proud of our American composers..........

Pachelbel….we see that name and immediately we hear the Pachelbel Canon in D which is played frequently on the radio and television commercials. Well, the Pachelbel who composed the Canon in D is the father of Charles Theodore Pachelbel.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Charles was the eldest son of his father’s second marriage. The family resided in Nuremberg when the elder Pachelbel died in 1706. From that year on little is known of Charles. Twenty six years later he is in London and donates his father’s manuscripts to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Charles was one of the first European composers to take up residence in the United States. In 1734 he is found to be living in Boston, then, later that year became the organist of Trinity Church in Providence, Rhode Island. Playing harpsichord and accompanying local musicians, Pachelbel performed two public concerts in New York City in early 1736, some of the first concerts to be given in the city! Shortly after the performances, he left for Charleston, South Carolina where he lived the rest of his life. He married Hanna Poitevin in St. Phillip’s Church where he was organist. The couple had one child, Charles.

Actively involved in the music community in Charleston, Pachelbel organized concerts for the public to attend. Just one year before his death he opened a singing school.

Very few of Charles Pachelbel’s compositions survived due to a fire at St. Philip’s Church. Enjoy his Magnificat for double choir."

Concordia Nebraska A Ca****la Choir

11/04/2014

Another piece by George W. Chadwick, performed at the 2010 New World Music Festival in Boulder, CO - "Ode for the Opening of the Chicago World's Fair"

In 1892, George Chadwick (1854 -- 1931) was commissioned to compose an ode for the opening ceremonies of the World's Fair in Chicago. This is the 2nd mvt. Ne...

11/04/2014

Thanks to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Love-Song-A-Visit-with-Gena-Branscombe/313328335344545 for sharing this video clip from George W. Chadwick's burlesque opera 'Tabasco':

this is an excerpt from a recital given in New Orleans, in February of 2013, introducing the Burlesque Opera "Tabasco" written by George Whitefield Chadwick ...

09/18/2012

Check out our schedule at a glance HERE. To see our films and to purchase tickets click HERE. A preliminary version of our full program is now available HERE!

07/08/2012

Welcome, Christina!

02/13/2012

One of my choir members just emailed excited that Ive's "Circus Band" was on the radio, said "I get such a kick out of hearing the obscure tunes that we sing on the radio." Perhaps they aren't as obscure now. . .one audience member at a time. . . (David)

02/08/2012

Tune in to hear live performances of Bernstein's music from Symphony Space in NYC, USA:

Symphony Space's annual gift to the City of New York honors the musical contributions of Leonard Bernstein. This 27th Wall to Wall cuts across all categories of previous Wall to Walls for the simple reason that it is devoted to Leonard Bernstein - the protean maestro and composer whose energy was b...

01/31/2012

One of my NY groups sang Amy Beach's "Canticle of the Sun" last year on a concert with a Brahms work. While rehearsing, one of the singers told me a story of how she had heard a radio program about Brahms and was happy to be able to talk about the German composer. Last night, two singers from the group told me they heard a radio program on Beach and were glowing. . .that's what I call good.

01/27/2012

Read extensive notes about the pieces here:

History Three Irish Legends consists of The Tides of Manaunaun, Hero Sun and The Voice of Lir. The Tides of Manaunaun was first written in 1917 as a musical prelude to the opera, The Building of Bamba. Performed at the theosophist colony of Halcyon, the opera's mythological subject matter included...

01/27/2012

Go here to hear Cowell's lesser known "Three Irish Legends" for solo piano:

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): Three Legends, per pianoforte (1917-1922). 1. The Tides of Manaunaun (ca. 1917) 2. The Hero Sun (1922) 3. The Voice of Lir (1919) S...

01/27/2012

American composer Henry Cowell (1897-1965) is remembered as a revolutionary, and we're all familiar with a few of his piano works including "Aeolian Harp". Refresh and perhaps learn new info about Cowell in the Wikipedia entry.
Note that Cowell shared the NWMF's vision - he founded the "Pan-American Association of Composers, dedicated to promoting composers from around the Western Hemisphere and creating a community among them that would transcend national lines". You'll also find in the article the incident which led to the conservative bent in his works produced in the decades following 1940.

Henry Cowell (March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:[1]

01/25/2012

Hello, Friends! We're sorry to announce that due to factors beyond our control, there will not be a Festival in 2012. Keep your eyes open for upcoming posts on activities of our ensembles and on American music and composers.