PAINE, John Knowles (1839-1906) - Symphony No. 2 ‘In the Spring’ (1879)

Obra de William Bradford (1823-1892), pintor nord-americà (1)

- Recordatori de John Knowles Paine -

En el dia de la commemoració del seu 110è aniversari de decés

---

Parlem de Pintura...

William Bradford (New Bedford, 30 d'abril de 1827 - New York, 25 d'abril de 1892) va ser un pintor nord-americà, especialitzat en escenes marítimes. Es va formar estrictament de forma autodidacta realitzant vistes marines i dibuixos d'embarcacions marítimes. Ràpidament, va participar en diverses expedicions a l'Àrtic amb Isaac Hayes sent un dels primers pintors en plasmar els entorns freds i inhòspits del nord de la Terra. A partir del 1861 i fruit de l'èxit dels seus treballs, va finançar diverses expedicions per tal que de rebre fotografies d'aquests viatges per després utilitzar-les en les seves pintures. La seva obra, sota influència d'Albert van Beest, va tenir notable ressò pel seu realisme i pel cromatisme i paisatges exòtics. Va ser membre de la National Academy of Design. Va morir a Nova York l'abril de 1892.

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: William Bradford (1823-1892) - In english: William Bradford (1823-1892) - Altres: William Bradford (1823-1892)

---

Parlem de Música...

John Knowles Paine (Portland, 9 de gener de 1839 - Cambridge, 25 d'abril de 1906) va ser un compositor nord-americà, i el primer compositor nascut als Estats Units en assolir, musicalment, una notorietat a gran escala gràcies, especialment, a la seva música orquestral. Membre del famós grup de compositors coneguts amb el nom dels Boston Six, Paine ser un dels primers organitzadors de concerts, de forma sistemàtica, als Estats Units. Fill d'un botiguer que venia música, paraigües i altres dispositius mecànics, ràpidament va demostrar la seva aptitud musical. Hermann Kotzschmar, la seva primera professora de procedència alemanya i amb qui va compondre el seu primer quartet de corda, va captar l'enorme potencial de Paine i el va invitar a viatjar a Alemanya. A Berlín hi va viure durant tres anys, ciutat on va rebre classes d'orgue i de composició. Algunes de les seves primeres obres van tenir en l'orgue el seu protagonista i amb elles es va presentar en els seus primers recitals. En el seu retorn als Estats Units, es va convertir en membre de la facultat de la Universitat d'Harvard, càrrec que va mantenir durant molts anys. Va pertànyer al col·lectiu de compositors anomenat "Boston Six", al costat de George Chadwick, Horatio Parker, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell i Amy Beach. Una composició seva de 1889 va ser una de les primeres gravacions de so que es van fer amb el recentment inventat fonògraf. Entre les seves obres destaquen, les Simfonies No. 1, Op. 23 i No. 2, Op. 34 "A la primavera", l'Obertura As You Like It, Op. 28, el Poema simfònic "La Tempesta", el Oedipus Tyrannus, Op. 35 (per a cor i orquestra) i l'òpera Azara la qual, tot i l'enorme esforç que hi va dedicar en vida, no va poder veure representada. Va morir a Cambridge l'abril de 1906.

OBRA:

Vocal secular:

Stage:
op.
— Il pesceballo (comic op, F.J. Child, J.R. Lowell), 1862, lib (Cambridge, MA, 1862), music (mostly arrs. of pieces by Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti) lost
35 Oedipus tyrannus (incid music, Sophocles), T, male chorus, orch, 1880–81, Cambridge, 17 May 1881 (Boston, 1881); rev. 1895; version for large orch (Boston, 1908); Prelude pubd separately (Leipzig, 1903/R)
— Azara (grand opera, 3, Paine), 1883–98, concert perf., Boston, 7 May 1903 (Leipzig, 1901)
— The Birds (incid music, Aristophanes), T, male chorus, orch, 1900, Cambridge, 10 May 1901 (Boston, 1902)

Songs: all for 1v, pf
29 Four Songs, c1866–c1878 (Boston, 1879):
Matin Song (B. Taylor), ed. R. Hughes, Songs by Thirty Americans (Boston, 1904/R);
I wore your roses yesterday (C. Thaxter);
Early Springtime (T. Hill);
Moonlight (J. von Eichendorff)
— Spring, 1869
— The Fountain (G.P. Lathrop), c1878
— The clover blossoms kiss her feet (O. Laighton), 1882
40/1 A bird upon a rosy bough (C. Thaxter) (Boston, 1884)
40/2 A Farewell (C. Kingsley) (Boston, 1885)
40/3 Beneath the starry arch (H. Martineau) (Boston, 1885)
40/4 Music when soft voices die (P.B. Shelley), lost
Other songs

Vocal religiosa:

— Agnus Dei, 1861, lost
— Benedictus, 1861, lost
— Hymn for Harvard Commencement (J.B. Greenough), 1862, rev. 1883 (Boston, 1883)
8 Domine salvum fac, inauguration hymn for Harvard president, male chorus, orch, 1863 (Cambridge, 1915)
10 Mass, D, S, A, T, B, chorus, org, orch, 1865, Berlin, 16 Feb 1867 (New York, 1866)
14/1 Funeral Hymn for a Soldier, male chorus, c1863
14/2 The Summer Webs, male chorus, c1863
14/3 Minstrel’s Song (T. Chatterton), male chorus, c1863
— Peace, peace to him that’s gone (T. Moore), male chorus, c1863
— Radway’s Ready Relief (advertisement text), male chorus, c1863 (Boston, 1883)
— Soldier’s Oath (C.T. Brooks), male chorus, 1865
— O bless the Lord, my soul (I. Watts), male chorus (Boston, 1911)
20 St Peter (orat), S, A, T, B, chorus, org, orch, 1870–72, Portland, ME, 3 June 1873 (Boston, 1872/R)
27 Centennial Hymn (J.G. Whittier), chorus, org, orch, 1876 (Boston, 1876), for Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876
36 The Realm of Fancy (after J. Keats), cant., S, A, T, B, chorus, orch, 1882 (Boston, 1882)
37 Phoebus, Arise! (W. Drummond), cant., T, male chorus, orch, 1882 (Boston, 1882)
38 The Nativity (after J. Milton), cant., S, A, T, B, chorus, orch, 1883 (Boston, 1883), for Handel and Haydn Society, Boston; rev. 1903 as op.39 (Boston, 1903)
— Divine Love (C. Wesley), 1883, lost
43 Song of Promise (after G.E. Woodberry), cant., S, chorus, org, orch, 1888 (Cincinnati, 1888), for Cincinnati May Festival
— Columbus March and Hymn (Paine), chorus, org, orch, 1892 (Boston, 1892), for World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893
— Freedom, our Queen (O.W. Holmes), children’s chorus, 1893, for World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 (London, 1893); arr. SATB (New York, 1902)
— Hymn of the West (E.C. Stedman), chorus, orch, 1903 (St Louis, 1904/R), for Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St Louis, 1904
Other occasional works, chorus, kbd

Instrumental:

Orch.:
23 Symphony no.1, c, 1875 (Leipzig, 1908); repr. in H.W. Hitchcock, ed., Earlier American Music, i (New York, 1972)
28 As you Like it, ov., c1876, pubd as Was ihr wollt (Leipzig, 1907/R)
31 The Tempest, sym. poem after Shakespeare, c1876 (Leipzig, 1907/R)
33 Duo concertante, vn, vc, orch, c1877
34 Symphony no.2 ‘In the Spring’, A, 1879 (Boston, 1880)
44 An Island Fantasy, sym. poem, c1888, pubd as Poseidon and Amphitrite: an Ocean Fantasy (Leipzig, 1907R; T, x)
— Lincoln: a Tragic Tone Poem, c1904–6, inc.

Chbr.:
5 String Quartet, D, c1855 (New York, 1940)
22 Piano Trio, d, c1874
24 Violin Sonata, b, 1875, rev. c1905; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)
30 Romanza and Humoreske, vc, pf, c1875; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)
32 Larghetto and Humoreske, vn, vc, pf, c1877; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)

Organ:
— Prelude and Fugue, g, 1859; LS
— Prelude, c; LS
2/1 Fantasia and Fugue, e, 1860; LS
2/2 Double Fugue on God Save the Queen or Heil dir im Siegeskranz, D, 1860; LS
3/1 Concert Variations on the Austrian Hymn, F, 1860 (Boston, 1876); L, LS
3/2 Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, c1861 (Boston, 1865); L [as op.4], LS
— Concert Variations upon Old Hundred, c1861 (Cambridge, 1916); L, LS
6 Fantasia, F, 1865, lost
— Reverie, after Longfellow’s Song of the Silent Land, c1862, lost
17 Andante con variazioni, from lost Fantasia Sonata, c1863; LS
— Caprice, c1863, lost
19 Two Preludes, D, b, c1864 (Boston, 1892); L, LS
— Fantasia on the Portuguese Hymn, c1864, lost
— Pastorale, c1865, lost
13 Fantasie on Ein’ feste Burg, c1869 (Cambridge, 1916); L, LS
Many preludes, fugues, other pieces

Piano:
1 Sonata no.1, a, 1859
4 Sonata no.2, f, before 1861, lost
7 Christmas Gift, 1862 (Boston, 1864); ed. M. Hinson, Piano Music in 19th-Century America, ii (Chapel Hill, 1975); S
9 Funeral March in Memory of President Lincoln, 1865 (New York, 1865); S
— Valse Caprice
11 Four Character Pieces, c1868 (Leipzig and Boston, 1872), incl. Welcome Home to my Darling Lizzie! From John
12 Romance, c, c1868 (Boston, 1869); S
15/1 Prelude and Fugue, b, before 1865
15/2 Prelude, f, before 1865
15/3 Fugue, A, before 1865
25 Four Characteristic Pieces, 1876 (Boston, 1876); S
26 Ten Sketches: In the Country, c1873 (Boston, 1876); S
39 Romance, D, c1882 (Boston, 1883); S
41 Three Piano Pieces, c1882–4 (Boston, 1884), no.2 previously pubd (Boston, 1882); S; nos.2–3 ed. J. Gillespie, Nineteenth Century American Piano Music (New York, 1978)
45 Nocturne, B, c1889 (Boston, 1889); S
MSS of most unpubd works in US-CA

Literatura:

ed., with T. Thomas and K.Klauser: Famous Composers and their Works (Boston, 1891, 2/1894, rev. 3/1901) [incl. ‘Beethoven as Composer’ and ‘Music in Germany’ by Paine]
The History of Music to the Death of Schubert (Boston, 1907/R) 

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) - In english: John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) - Altres: John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) 

---

Parlem en veu pròpia o en veu d'altri...

Paine’s second symphony, In the Spring, was a significant step forward in his development as a composer. He began work on the piece sometime before January 1877 and had hoped to premiere it in Berlin while visiting there during the summer of 1879 but, to his disappointment, the Germans programmed his first symphony instead. The première eventually took place in Boston on March 10, 1880, at the first concert presented by the Boston Philharmonic, with a repeat performance given the following afternoon under the auspices of the Harvard Musical Association. As the result of a successful subscription effort, Arthur P. Schmidt of Boston published the symphony, making it the first American orchestral work to appear in print. Early audiences were enthusiastic. In one local critic’s assessment, “The symphony is delightfully clear from beginning to end. Its learning, which is great, is unobtrusive, and properly falls into its place as a means and not an end.” At least eight more performances followed during the next two decades; it entered the repertoire of the newly formed Boston Symphony Orchestra and appeared in concerts by the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Chicago Orchestra under Theodore Thomas. A Tribune review following the New York première declared Paine “easily foremost of American composers” and described the symphony as “a serious, important and totally beautiful work”. The Spring Symphony was reportedly Paine’s favourite among his own works. Whereas the shadow of Beethoven loomed large over his first symphony, in his second Paine created a work that was more firmly rooted in the nineteenth century—with nods to Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt—and even the young Brahms. But the influences are well-absorbed, resulting in a symphony that is no mere compilation of borrowed or recycled ideas but very much a reflection of its composer’s freshness and originality.

Frank K. DeWald (source/font: aquí)

Gaudiu i compartiu! 

---

Informació addicional... 

INTERPRETS: New York Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta (conductor)
RECICLASSICAT: PAINE, John Knowles (1839-1906)
AMAZON: Paine - Symphony No.2

IMSLP: John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) 

CPDL: John Knowles Paine (1839-1906)

SPOTIFY: Paine - Symphony No.2



Tant si us ha agradat, com si no, opineu, és lliure i fàcil!