KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Her Odyssey, 2 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

MC.1989.03.10.B

Program Series

Morning Concert

Program Length

107 min

Part

2 of 2

Dates

1989-03-10 | broadcast
| 1989-03-10 | created

Description

Born Dec. 29, 1912 in Melbourne, Australia, Peggy Glanville-Hicks was, until recently, virtually unknown in her native country. In 1931 she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied composition, piano and conducting with the cream of British musical life: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Benjamin, Constant Lambert, and Malcolm Sargent. A traveling scholarship sent her to Vienna in 1936 to study with Egon Wellesz and to Paris for sessions with Nadia Boulanger. From 1942 to 1959, she lived in the United States, becoming active as a resourceful and inventive concert organizer, and as a brilliant music critic for the “New York Herald Tribune”, where her colleagues were Virgil Thomson, Lou Harrison and Paul Bowles. After leaving New York, she settled in Greece before returning to Australia in the mid-seventies. Her own music took on an international aspect in its use of Arabic, Hindu, and Aegean folk music, and many of her major works were recorded by producer Ed Cole for the MGM Records label, a pioneering enterprise in the 1950s.
After undergoing brain surgery, Glanville-Hicks retired to her home in Sydney Australia where Charles Amirkhanian recorded a rare interview with the composer, in May of 1986. During their conversation, of which extensive segments are included in this program, they touched upon a wide range of topics, including her stint as a New York City music critic, her travels, and her music. Although the audio quality of the interview is not pristine, this chance to hear the erudite Glanville-Hicks reminisce about her career is absolutely priceless.

Genres

20th century classical

Musical Selections

Sonata for Piano and Percussion (1952) -- Three Gymnopedie (1934, rev 1953) -- Prelude for a Pensive Pupil (1963) -- Letters from Morocco (text by Paul Bowles) [excerpt] (1952) -- Nausicaa [excerpt] (1960) -- Concerto Romantico [excerpt] (1957)

Performers

New York Percussion Group (Sonata)
Carlos Surinach, conductor (Sonata)
Carlo Bussotti, piano (Sonata)
RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester (Gymnopedie)
MGM Chamber Orchestra (Morocco ; Romantico)
Carlos Surinach, conductor (Morocco ; Nausicaa ; Romantico)
Loren Driscoll, tenor (Morocco)
Athens Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Nausicaa)
Walter Trampler, viola (Romantico)

Subjects

Piano with percussion ensemble
Chamber music
Piano music
Songs (High voice) with chamber orchestra
Art songs
Operas -- Excerpts
Concertos (Viola)

Related places

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

Related Entities

New York Percussion Group
RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester
MGM Chamber Orchestra
Athens Symphony Orchestra
Amirkhanian, Charles
Glanville-Hicks, Peggy
Surinach, Carlos
Bussotti, Carlo
Driscoll, Loren
Bowles, Paul
Trampler, Walter