KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Leo Ornstein: An 88th Birthday Tribute, 2 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

MC.1980.12.11.2.B

Program Series

Morning Concert

Program Length

133 min

Part

2 of 2

Dates

1980-12-11 | broadcast
| 1980-12-11 | created

Description

Charles Amirkhanian celebrates the 88th birthday of American composer Leo Ornstein with a special program devoted to his music. Born in Kremenchug Russia, on December 11, 1892, (or Dec. 2, 1893) he moved to the United States in 1907. His antics as a pianist, including his introducing to concert audiences around 1910 a brand of composing previously unknown, brought him a reputation as a fiery radical of the keyboard. His experiments in percussive sonorities and dissonance presaged those of Bartok, Cowell, and Antheil. But by 1927 he had retired due to nervous exhaustion brought on by an overwhelming concert schedule. He later founded a music school in Philadelphia bearing his own name and taught such future notables as Berkeley, California composer Andrew Imbrie. At the time of this program he continued to compose in the sunny, dry (usually) atmosphere of Brownsville, Texas, where he and his wife continued to live happily. This program includes an interview with Leo Ornstein and selections of his works from piano to chamber music. (from KPFA Folio)

Genres

20th century classical
New music

Musical Selections

Quartet No. 3, for strings [2nd & 3rd movements] (1976) (23:25) -- Impressions of Notre-Dame, Op. 16, No. 1 (1914) (5:09) -- Poems of 1917: No. 8 The Battle (1918) (3:13) -- A la Chinoise, Op. 39 (ca. 1918) (5:13) -- Piano Quintet, Op. 92 [2nd movement] (1927) (9:30) -- Dance of the Fates (ca. 1937) (7:07) -- Wild Men's Dance (”Danse sauvage”), Op.13, No. 2 (ca. 1913)

Performers

Boston String Quartet: (Quartet)
Daniel Stepner, violin (Quartet)
Sophie Vilker, violin (Quartet)
Ronald Carbone, viola (Quartet)
Lynn Nowels, violoncello (Quartet)
Doris Hays, piano (Notre-Dame)
Michael Sellers, piano (Poems ; Wild)
Martha Anne Verbit, piano (A La Chinoise)
William Westney, piano (Quintet)
Daniel Stepner, violin (Quintet)
Michael Strauss, violin (Quintet)
Peter John Sacco, viola (Quintet)
Thomas Mansbacher, cello (Quintet)
Louisville Orchestra (Dance)
Jorge Mester, conductor (Dance)

Subjects

20th century classical
New music
String quartets
Piano music
Piano quintets
Orchestral music

Related places

Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Boston String Quartet
Louisville Orchestra
Amirkhanian, Charles
Ornstein, Leo, 1892-2002
Stepner, Daniel
Vilker, Sophie
Carbone, Ronald D.
Nowels, Lynn
Hays, Doris, 1941-
Hays, Sorrel, 1941-
Sellers, Michael
Verbit, Martha Anne
Westney, William
Strauss, Michael (Violinist)
Sacco, Peter John
Mansbacher, Thomas
Mester, Jorge