narrator
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
,
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
and
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
. A musical interpretation of the first eleven chapters of the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
, the suite was a collaborative work by seven composers, some of whom wrote film music in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. The project was conceived by
Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director.
Early career
Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents ...
, a noted conductor and composer of music for recording, radio and film. Shilkret wrote one of the seven pieces and invited the remaining composers to submit contributions as work-for-hire.
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
and
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
wrote, respectively, the first and last parts. The Biblical text used in the spoken word narrative is the
American King James Version
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. The Latin Vulgate translation was dominant in Western Christianity through the Middle Ages. Since then, the Bible has been translated in ...
. It was intended to be a
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
from
art music
Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...
to
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
.
The Suite
Background
ShilkretShilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005. Shilkret, Nathaniel, Barbara Shilkret, and Niel Shell, ''Feast or Famine: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', archival edition of Shilkret autobiography, 2001 (copies deposited in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, The City College of New York Archival Library, The New York Philharmonic Archives, The Victor Archives (SONY)). conceived of the Genesis project while traveling with his friend Rex Schepp, perhaps around 1943. A letter from Nathaniel Shilkret to his son dated 9 February 1944 indicates that music for four of the parts had already been written (although not necessarily delivered to Shilkret) and that contractual matters with Stravinsky were holding up the writing of his part. A
letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
from Shilkret to
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
and a 24 July 1945 letter from
Werner Janssen
Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen; Bartók did not do his task due to ill health, and
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...
and
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
had also been approached in connection with the project at some point, but declined.
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...
is described in the above referenced 9 February 1944 letter from Nathaniel Shilkret to his son as an alternate if Stravinsky declined.
Both Stravinsky and Schoenberg were short on money when they agreed to participate in the project.
In a personal letter dated 26 November 1945 from Nathaniel Shilkret to his wife (see the commons for a copy), Shilkret gives insight into his purpose in writing the piece and his thoughts on the resulting work:
"However, let me explain the original purpose of the Bible Album. It was never intended to be a work of musical art. If I prepared the Album for musicians I would not have done it with narrative, but like an oratorio—all singing—this would have put me in competition with
Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
's Creation—
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
—
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
etc. I would, even if I were successful musically, have sold about 500 Albums.”
"It would have been silly to have attempted such a work. My idea is strictly one for the masses—I wanted to appeal to all record buyers.”
"I admit that Schoenberg, Strawinsky, Milhaud and maybe Toch did the artistic job away from Hollywood influence, but my number received more applause t the premiere performanceeven from the concert audience. Tansman (not strictly a Hollywood composer), Tedesco (also not too Hollywoodish) and I did a more operatic style of scoring.”
"In fact, so successful was my score at the concert that we hilkret and Werner Janssen, who conducted the premiere concert performance and was shortly to conduct the premiere recordingare changing the order of the records. Instead of starting with Schoenberg and scaring the buyer, the album starts with Shilkret—Creation 2 sides... We leave the futuristic music of Strawinsky and Schoenberg for one double faced record and at the last.”
"The critics didn't dare to criticize the 2 giants Strawinsky and Schoenberg because they didn't understand them. Schoenberg's music is so ultramodern and in the 12 tone scale that even you with all your experience will think that the cat is just jumping all over the piano—It is a great piece of music but oh—so new in sound.”
"My appeal is to record buyers—not only music lovers of the ulta modern type but to all buyers and lovers of music and the bible.”
"If you think that Shilkret, Tedesco, Tansman and Toch wrote cheap music, you are mistaken—of course we used some dramatic tricks but you'll find them modern and beautiful—What is wrong in writing music to accentuate the scene or words—Wagner did it all the time. We do it in picture music because it is effective. For ordinary people even our music is strange and modern.”
Performances and recordings
The premiere performance of the ''Genesis Suite'' was by the Janssen Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles, Werner Janssen conducting, on 18 November 1945 at the
Wilshire Ebell Theatre
The Ebell of Los Angeles is a women-led and women-centered nonprofit housed in an historic campus in the Mid-Wilshire section of Los Angeles, California. It includes numerous performance spaces, meeting rooms, classrooms and the 1,238-seat Wilshir ...
.
The program, which includes the complete list of orchestra personnel for this performance, is reproduced in the archival edition of the Shilkret autobiography.
An anecdotal event related to the premiere performance is that the rehearsal the day before the concert is one of only two times that Schoenberg and Stravinsky, whose mutual dislike for each other is well-known, were together.Crawford, Dorothy L., ‘’Evenings On and Off the Roof: Pioneering Concerts in Los Angeles:, 1939—1971, University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1995, p. 127. Shilkret gives details of how his plans to keep them separated went awry.
The premiere recording, on 11 December 1945 of the orchestral track was also by Janssen conducting his orchestra, and a separate track was made for the choral part directed by Hugo Strelitzer. A track with narration by character actor Edward Arnold was made circa June 1946. Shilkret and Janssen made these recordings at their own expense, with Janssen expecting that
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
would publish the recordings, but RCA exercised its option to decline. An offer from
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
was turned down. Janssen, together with some businessmen friends, had formed Artist Records record company, and the Genesis recording, with the three tracks merged, was issued under the Artist label as Album JS-10. As Shilkret had indicated in the letter cited above, the Schoenberg piece was renamed "Postlude" and was the last piece in the album.
The "Weekly Feature Concert—New Recordings” program of Los Angeles radio station KFAC played the recording of the ''Genesis Suite'' on 7 February 1947. A KFAC flyer with their 5–7 February 1947 programming and a note from Janssen to Shilkret indicating that the suite was played in its entirety are reproduced in the archival edition of the Shilkret autobiography.
The
Utah Symphony Orchestra
The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...
, conducted by Janssen, with narration again by Arnold, performed the ''Genesis Suite'' on 9 February 1947 in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. Press reviews of the concert and correspondence from Janssen to Shilkret regarding the performance are reproduced in the archival edition of the Shilkret autobiography.
Janssen conducted the
Portland Symphony Orchestra The Portland Symphony Orchestra was established in 1923 in Portland, Maine as the Amateur Strand Symphony Orchestra. Started by a small group of musicians who had sent out invitations to join their organization to people in the area, they had their ...
and the Portland Symphonic Choir, again with narration by Arnold, circa December 1947. Press reviews and relevant correspondence from Janssen to Shilkret are reproduced in the archival edition of the Shilkret autobiography.
Problems with Artist Record company led Janssen and Shilkret to stop sales by Artist and destroy existing stock in order for Capitol Records to issue the Genesis Suite as Album P8125 and P8125Y-Z. Schoenberg's contribution was restored to its first position and a new narration track was dubbed circa December 1950. A 1951 royalty statement in the Shilkret archives notes “Advances: One-half of $500.00 fee paid to Ted Osborne for narration.” This album was reissued in 2001 in CD format as Angel Records 67729.
A completely new recording of the Genesis Suite was made in December 2000 at Jesus Christus Kirche in Berlin by the
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has also ...
, conducted by
Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947), also known as Gerry Schwarz or Jerry Schwarz, is an American symphony conductor and trumpeter. As of 2019, Schwarz serves as the Artistic and Music Director of Palm Beach Symphony and the Director of Orche ...
and featuring the Ernst Senff Chor. The narration was by acting stars
Tovah Feldshuh
Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh (born December 27, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for more than four decades, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations f ...
,
Barbara Feldon
Barbara Feldon (born Barbara Anne Hall; March 12, 1933) is an American actress primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 in the 1965–1970 sitcom ''Get Smart''.
Early life
Feldon was born Barbara ...
,
David Margulies
David Joseph Margulies (February 19, 1937 – January 11, 2016) was an American actor.
Early life
Margulies was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Runya ('' née'' Zeltzer), a nurse and museum employee, and Harry David Margulies, a ...
,
Fritz Weaver
Fritz William Weaver (January 19, 1926 − November 26, 2016) was an American actor in television, stage, and motion pictures. He portrayed Dr. Josef Weiss in the 1978 epic television drama, ''Holocaust'' for which he was nominated for a Primetime ...
, and writer Isaiah Sheffer. The recordings were made from recreated scores. The liner notes state that the only copies of five of the scores were destroyed in a fire in Nathaniel Shilkret's home in the 1960s. There was a fire in his son Arthur Shilkret's store at 55 Church Street, Malverne, New York on 26 October 1973 (documented in the 1 November 1973 Malverne Times, a copy of which is reproduced in the archival edition of the Shilkret autobiography). However, full scores prepared by Shilkret of all seven parts are still in the Shilkret archives as well as Castelnuevo-Tedesco's original signed submitted score, dated 11 March 1944.
The ''Genesis Suite'' was performed by the
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.
History
Beginnings
The orchestra ...
Orchestra, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, accompanied by the University of Washington Chorale, with narrative by
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...
and
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...
on 29 and 31 May 2008.
The Genesis Suite was performed for the first time in the UK by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
under the direction of
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' of 2005
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...
