# William Schuman Vs. Roy Harris



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

I like both of these guys more than most moderns, but not quite sure which one I find stronger. 

I'm just interested in a comparison of some facts but also getting opinions. 

Is one's body of work much larger than the other? Is one played more?

Harris seems to have more of greater substance to my ear right away, but Schuman's
3rd seems to be greater than anything that Harris has done.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The trouble I have with Harris is that his music seems constantly to be forgetting where it's going. I'd like to think the problem is me - but after several tries I've concluded that, no, it's Harris. This upsets me because I love the way his music sounds. I think his problem is very basic: he's indulging in a harmonic idiom so iridescent and evanescent, so dependent on constant tonal shifts as well as polytonality, that convincing long-range structure is next to impossible to achieve. His best symphony is considered to be his third, and from what I've heard I agree. I plan to have another go at him; I find his sounds very seductive.

William Schuman's music has a tougher, more hard-edged quality, but like Harris he has a Romantic heart. His violin concerto was quite an exciting discovery, wild and dramatic, but like Harris he seems to have written his masterpiece in his third symphony. Bernstein recorded them together and has the measure of both.


----------



## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

I could never say it as eloquently as Woodduck, but I fully agree with what he says. Having only really discovered both aforementioned composers in the last 2 years, William Schuman is the man. I've put both their music through the wringer so to speak and Schuman's music is consistently more stimulating and profound, where as Harris' music has some fascinating ideas here and there but feel strung together with lesser bits of meanderings. 

So Schuman for me... but I tell you someone else I really had a instantaneous liking for is that Ruggles fellow, although I've only know his music for awhile I like it better that Harris' as well. Oh and Wallingford Riegger I really dig what I've heard but there is not much of his work recorded sadly, (unless perhaps one of you here knows something I don't).


----------



## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I don't think I agree with the above-mentioned criticisms of Roy Harris, though perhaps I just have different pieces of his in mind. I hear great depth and a strong sense of direction in many of his works.

Here's one of my favorites, his Piano Quintet, played by his wife Johana and the Coolidge String Quartet:






In any case, I'll use this thread as an excuse to do some listening to both composers.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Blancrocher said:


> I don't think I agree with the above-mentioned criticisms of Roy Harris, though perhaps I just have different pieces of his in mind. I hear great depth and a strong sense of direction in many of his works.
> 
> Here's one of my favorites, his Piano Quintet, played by his wife Johana and the Coolidge String Quartet:
> 
> ...


And I'll check out that Piano Quintet.


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I know and like Harris's 3rd symphony, which is the classic americana symphony, and very accessible and well made. But I have not been strongly compelled to look deeper into his work, whereas Schuman's has called my attention. So, I guess I am in agreement, but without an entirely fair reason as to why.


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

William Schuman Vs. Roy Harris? This sounds too much like the lead up to a pay-per-view boxing match. I'd just rather listen to the fellers' music.

I cherish the Harris Third, as it seems many of the Forum posters do. The work is certainly a contender (no boxing pun intended here) for the "great American symphony" accolade.

Interestingly enough, I lose interest in Harris's other symphonies, though I listen to them every now and then. (I took on the Ninth on Memorial Day. I found I kept thinking I should have listened to the Third instead.) 

Schumann remains more interesting over a larger span of works for me, too. The Third Symphony is once again a possible contender for the "great American symphony", but a couple of the others are seemingly equally fascinating, and I'm glad I have the box set of the complete symphonies with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony, though some of these works are more brilliantly played on other recordings.

Still, I have heard the Harris Third more often than I have any single symphony by Schumann, and I suspect I will listen to that Third more times in the future than I will most other symphonies by most other composers. It remains a favorite work of mine and I wouldn't want to be without it.

By the way, I also took on a listen to two of the three Creston symphonies during my Memorial Day listening session -- the Second and Third. The Harris Ninth and two symphonies by Creston. It was a formidable day of American music on that solemn day of remembrance and memorial. I had much to reflect upon.


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Any recommended best pieces by them? I don't think I have listened to anything by them (not that I can remember, maybe I have).


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Harris' 3rd Symphony is his most famous work.

Schuman also has a popular 3rd Symphony, but you can also try his New England Triptych. Other works are mentioned above.


----------



## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

I haven't listened to enough of either's music to decide, but I can't ever seem to get into Schuman - whenever I try to listen to a piece of his, I inevitably seem to stop after a couple minutes. It just doesn't seem to interest me much.

I honestly haven't heard much of Harris either, but I do know his Violin Concerto, and I was intrigued immediately by it. Quite melodic and exciting music.


----------

