Uploaded May 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There are a number of composers who we often feel are neglected, deserve to be better known in the music world. As of the time of this upload, I feel George Templeton Strong (1856–1948) fits this description perfectly. Search this name on the internet, and the first results to come up will be his father the lawyer, who happens to share the same name.
This obscurity, which has been slightly reduced through three recordings on Naxos, might be due to the fact that he left the United States in his early career and moved to Switzerland, where he lived out the rest of his days composing and painting.
It would be time well-spent listening to the few recordings that are available. There is relatively little information in terms of original resources available online. Hopefully, this will be remedied in the near future.
As for this recording, Strong made his contribution to the character-piece genre that made use of the folk music of natives in the Americas. These four pieces (Au pays de peaux-rouges, 1918) are somewhat more experimental than the Romanticism that is displayed in much of his other music. If you are interested in hearing more of his music, check out Strong's Symphony No. 2: youtube.com/watch?v=XLFpp7s0w1M
This set of pieces is performed by Stephanie Bruning (piano) and is available through the Albany label along with a number of other works from American Indianist composers:
albanyrecords.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=c544d110ef6663bd4a7fef3a8057600c&Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY1597&Category_Code=a-NR
There are a number of composers who we often feel are neglected, deserve to be better known in the music world. As of the time of this upload, I feel George Templeton Strong (1856–1948) fits this description perfectly. Search this name on the internet, and the first results to come up will be his father the lawyer, who happens to share the same name.
This obscurity, which has been slightly reduced through three recordings on Naxos, might be due to the fact that he left the United States in his early career and moved to Switzerland, where he lived out the rest of his days composing and painting.
It would be time well-spent listening to the few recordings that are available. There is relatively little information in terms of original resources available online. Hopefully, this will be remedied in the near future.
As for this recording, Strong made his contribution to the character-piece genre that made use of the folk music of natives in the Americas. These four pieces (Au pays de peaux-rouges, 1918) are somewhat more experimental than the Romanticism that is displayed in much of his other music. If you are interested in hearing more of his music, check out Strong's Symphony No. 2: youtube.com/watch?v=XLFpp7s0w1M
This set of pieces is performed by Stephanie Bruning (piano) and is available through the Albany label along with a number of other works from American Indianist composers:
albanyrecords.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=c544d110ef6663bd4a7fef3a8057600c&Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY1597&Category_Code=a-NR
