# American classical music- where to start?



## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

I'd like to get into American Classical music but I don't know where to start. I guess we can include Latin America too. Why not? I mostly just like orchestral music: symphonies and concertos. 


Any suggestions? Thanks.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ives Symphonies 2 and 3.

Harris Symphony 3

Schuman Symphony 3

Copland Symphony 3

Copland Clarinet Concerto

Copland Appalachian Spring

Copland Billy The Kid

Copland Rodeo


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

Thanks. I'll give these a listen. Florida Orchestra will be playing Copland 3 next season.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Are you familiar with Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man? It is featured in his Symphony No. 3.


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

I've heard it once or twice. But now I want to hear his 3rd symphony.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some personal favourites:

Copland Clarinet Concerto ->
Crumb Solo Cello Sonata -> 
Ives Central Park in the Dark -> 
Barber Cello Concerto ->
Barber Cello Sonata -> 
Corigliano Piano Concerto ->
Rochberg 5th Symphony -> 
Rochberg Violin Concerto -> 
Ruth Crawford Seeger Piano Study in Mixed Accents; String Quartet -> 
Lucia Dlugoszewski Fire Fragile Flight


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

One great composer to get into is Samuel Barber. His style is pretty eclectic. Check out some of these:
- Violin Concerto
- Piano Concerto
- Second Essay for Orchestra
- String Quartet op. 11
- Excursions for piano
- Dover Beach


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Anything by Steve Reich or Roger Sessions or Charles Ives . Wonderful composers to jumpstart off with.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

The Symphonies and Violin Concertos of Walter Piston.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Chavez Symphony no. 2, since you're counting the continent.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Barber, Copland, Schuman, Ives, Piston, Chavez (if Mexico counts), Crumb, Rochberg, Sessions.


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## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

For the "early period" of American classical music, check out John Knowles Paine. The linked Wikipedia article mentions some other composers of that time, known together with Paine as the "Boston Six."

Naxos has recorded Paine's published orchestral music on two CDs:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Naxos/8559747

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Naxos/8559748


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Why not start with Gershwin's _Rhapsody in Blue_?






You're bound to end up there in any exploration of American classical music.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Some very good works from living American composers:

Steve Reich: Different Trains
Jay Aaron Kernis: Cello Concerto "Colored field"
Christopher Rouse: Flute Concerto
John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur

There are many others from these composers.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

There are many outstanding suggestions in the above posts.

I would also check out the following threads:

http://www.talkclassical.com/35508-any-interest-american-100-a.html?highlight=american

http://www.talkclassical.com/35826-greatest-20th-century-american.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/32788-american-sound.html

Although the OP is provocative there are some fine contributions in the thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/32126-american-composers-greater-than.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/32112-american-composers-before-1900-a.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/8001-american-symphonies.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/21085-your-ten-favorite-american.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/31171-american-symphonies-without-excessive.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/4228-how-do-i-get.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/13725-american-composers.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/7618-latin-american-composers.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/5408-american-music-composers.html?highlight=american#post52320


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Top compositions by US-born composers, from an Internet site. Not a bad list at all.

1 - Copland: Appalachian Spring
2 - Ives: Symphony #4 
3 - Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur
4 - Ives: Symphony #2
5 - Ives: Three Places in New England
6 - Copland: Clarinet Concerto
7 - Barber: Violin Concerto
8 - Schuman: Symphony #8
9 - Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915
10 - Schuman: Violin Concerto


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)




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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Also add John Adams and Philip Glass to the list here. I highly recommend both of those dudes.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

At the top of the list should probably be: 

Barber: Adagio 
Copland: Appalachian Spring 
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Ives: Symphony 4
Reich: Music for 18 Musicians 
Hovhaness: Mysterious Mountains 

From a purely personal POV, I would add: 

Crumb: Black Angels
Rzewski: Variations on The People United Will Never Be Defeated! 
Rzewski: Coming Together 
Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915
Antheil: Ballet Mecanique 
Babbitt: Philomel 
Glass: Aguas da Amazonia 
Schuller: 7 Studies on Themes of Paul Klee 
Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite 
Feldman: Rothko Chapel
Feldman: Three Voices for Joan Labarbara 
Cage: Music of Changes 
McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan (he was Canadian...) 
Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator

Good enough!


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Harry Partch
Morton Feldman
Elliott Carter
Charles Ives
Robert Ashley
Milton Babbitt
George Gershwin


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## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

science said:


> Antheil: Ballet Mecanique


George Antheil was the "bad boy" of American music in the 1920s and 1930s, who co-invented with actress Hedy Lamarr in 1941 a "frequency hopping" technique for radio communications, which is now used in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201106/physicshistory.cfm



> Lamarr contributed the idea of frequency hopping, while Antheil drew on his experience with "Ballet Mécanique" and the sixteen player pianos to devise a means of synchronizing the rapidly changing radio frequencies envisioned by Lamarr. Their joint invention used a mechanism similar to piano player rolls to synchronize the changes between the 88 frequencies-not coincidentally, this is also the standard number of piano keys-and called for a high-altitude observation plane to steer a radio-controlled torpedo from above.


Truth can be stranger than fiction!

And here's a recording of the _Ballet Mécanique:_

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Nimbus/NI2567


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

How about Bernstein? Haven't explored his work much, but I've heard his Symphony no. 2 in a concert once and really liked it.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Good suggestions, so far. I would simply echo and put in my 2 bits:

William Schuman: Symphony No3
Roy Harris: Symphony No3
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto; Knoxville Summer of 1915, First Essay for Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
Copland: Piano Sonata; Symphony No3; Appalachian Spring


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

GreenMamba said:


> Chavez Symphony no. 2, since you're counting the continent.


Me gusta.

Still gotta listen to all the other recommendations. This is gonna take a while.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Lou Harrison has not been mentioned. These are very nice orchestral works.

Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto / Suite for Violin, Piano and Small Orchestra - Keith Jarrett, New Japan Philharmonic, Lucy Stoltzman, Robert Hughes (New World Records) 









Lou Harrison: La Koro Sutro - Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP/sound)


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Why not jump into Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel? It's not very long and it's a solid introduction into Feldman's secret genius. Definitely one of the best American composers ever.


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