Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University.
Life
Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...
's Serenata for Orchestra is an orchestral
suite
Suite may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition
** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach
** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó
** ''Suite' ...
or miniature
symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
written in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
.
History
Piston composed the
Serenata in 1956, on commission for the
Louisville Orchestra, and is dedicated to conductor
Robert Whitney, who led the work's premiere on October 25, 1956.
Analysis
The work is in three
movements.
*Con allegrezza
*Con sentimento
*Con spirito
The outer movements of the Serenata are in
D major, and the overall form resembles a miniature symphony lasting only twelve minutes. This, the title, and certain melodic gestures make this composition more
Mozartean than any of Piston's
neoclassical works from the 1930s, though it remains further from 18th-century styles than neoclassical works of
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
,
Prokofiev, or
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 20th-century clas ...
. The first movement is reminiscent of the ''Ballando'' ("dancing") movement of Piston's
Fourth Symphony. The middle movement is dominated by a long-lined tune, and the work closes with a high-spirited, strutting finale. Tonal emphasis in the finale on the
tonic minor
Minor may refer to:
* Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities.
** A person who has not reached the age of majority
* Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education
Music theory
*Minor chord
** Barb ...
,
subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...
, and minor
dominant lend an ambiguity to the D-major conclusion that is characteristic for Piston.
Discography
* ''Walter Piston: Serenata for Orchestra;
David Van Vactor
David Van Vactor (May 8, 1906 – March 24, 1994) was an American composer of contemporary classical music.
He was born in Plymouth, Indiana, and received Bachelor of Music (1928) and Master of Music (1935) degrees from Northwestern Universit ...
: Fantasia, Chaconne, and Allegro;
Niels Viggo Bentzon: Pezzi sinfonici''; Louisville Orchestra; Robert Whitney, cond. LP recording. Louisville Orchestra First Edition Records LOU-586. Louisville, Kentucky, 1958.
* ''Walter Piston: Symphony No. 4; Capriccio for Harp and String Orchestra; Serenata for Orchestra; Three New England Sketches''. Therese Elder Wunrow, harp;
Seattle Symphony;
Gerard Schwarz. CD recording. Delos DE 3106. Hollywood, California: Delos International, 1991.
References
*
*
Footnotes
Further reading
*Johnson, Bret. 1992. Record review: "Piston: Symphony No.4; Capriccio for Harp and Strings; Serenata; ''Three New England Sketches''. Seattle Symphony,
New York Chamber Symphony of the 92nd Street Y, c. Gerard Schwarz. Delos DE 3106.
Harbison:
Viola Concerto
A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl St ...
;
Laderman: Concerto for Double Orchestra.
Jaime Laredo (vla),
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, c.
Hugh Wolff. New World 80404-2.
Rorem: ''Eagles''; Piano Concerto in Six Movements; ''Air Music''.
Jerome Lowenthal (pno), Louisville Orchestra c. Gerhardt Zimmerman,
Jorge Mester, Peter Leonard. Albany Records TROY 047.
Barber: ''
Prayers of Kierkegaard
''Prayers of Kierkegaard'', Op. 30, is an extended one-movement cantata written by Samuel Barber between 1942 and 1954. The piece has four main subdivisions and is based on prayers by Søren Kierkegaard. It is written for chorus, large orchestra, ...
'', Op. 30; ''The Lovers'', Op. 43. Sarah Reese (sop),
Dale Duesing
Dale Duesing (born September 26, 1947) is an American baritone. As an opera singer, he has had an international career spanning five decades.
Duesing grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He studied piano throughout childhood, and enrolled at Lawrence ...
(bar),
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and
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 ...
, c. Andrew Schenck. Koch International Classics 3-7125-2H1". ''
Tempo'', new series, no. 181 (June: Scandinavian Issue): 44–45.
External links
*{{YouTube, 2RF9Nkn4tdI, Berkshire Symphony, Ronald Feldman conducting
{{Walter Piston
Compositions by Walter Piston
1956 compositions
Orchestral suites
Music commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra
Music dedicated to ensembles or performers