Pranav Ranjit | Henry Cowell - Symphony No. 13 "Madras" (Score Video, complete) @towardthesea_ | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
00:00 I. Alapna
04:25 II. Tala Adi (attacca)
08:55 III. Allegro
12:26 IV. Andante
16:18 V. Allegro
New Juilliard Ensemble conducted by Joel Sachs
Ray Spiegel, tabla soloist; Michael Truesdell, jalataranga soloist (third movement)
Currently, this is the only recording of the complete version available on YT.
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was an American composer and pianist whose penchant for musical experimentation took him through myriad musical styles and around the globe. Perhaps best known for several pieces in the 1920s and 1930s that pioneered new playing techniques on and inside the piano, his innovations met with puzzlement, hostility, and even riots as he toured the US and Europe playing his own music.
Starting in the late 1930s, having been arrested on a "morals" charge (he was bisexual) and spent four years in the notorious San Quentin State Prison in California, Cowell simplified his compositional approach - increasingly turning toward folk music and "non-Western" musical styles for inspiration. During the 1950s, he became a significant authority as an ethnomusicologist, lecturing and spending time in a variety of Asian countries including Iran and India. Cowell continued to compose for several more years but passed away from cancer in December 1965.
Cowell was an extraordinarily prolific composer of symphonies, writing 20 works in the genre, but his most singular symphonic work of all might be the "Madras" symphony, written in 1958 after two months spent in the namesake Indian city (now Chennai) in 1956 and 1957. Dedicated to the Madras Music Academy, one of the most important schools for propagating Carnatic (south Indian) music and which still exists today, it was influenced by various aspects of both Carnatic and Hindustani (north Indian) classical music.
Having myself written one or two works with influences from Carnatic music, I find this symphony to be a remarkable work. It not only incorporates key formal and stylistic aspects of Indian musical traditions - as well as traditional instruments like the tabla and jalataranga (tuned bowls filled with water) - but also retains the distinctive stamp of Cowell's own interpretation, particularly in its diverse harmonic language (often using multiple modes at the same time) and the composer's complementary use of European orchestral instruments.
Despite a few other performances (besides the premiere during Cowell's lifetime, it was also performed in 2005 by the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, albeit without Indian instruments), this piece still has no commercial recording. Especially with the increasing availability of Indian traditional instruments around the world, I hope an adventurous chamber orchestra will take up that project sooner rather than later.
00:00 I. Alapna
04:25 II. Tala Adi (attacca)
08:55 III. Allegro
12:26 IV. Andante
16:18 V. Allegro
New Juilliard Ensemble conducted by Joel Sachs
Ray Spiegel, tabla soloist; Michael Truesdell, jalataranga soloist (third movement)
Currently, this is the only recording of the complete version available on YT.
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was an American composer and pianist whose penchant for musical experimentation took him through myriad musical styles and around the globe. Perhaps best known for several pieces in the 1920s and 1930s that pioneered new playing techniques on and inside the piano, his innovations met with puzzlement, hostility, and even riots as he toured the US and Europe playing his own music.
Starting in the late 1930s, having been arrested on a "morals" charge (he was bisexual) and spent four years in the notorious San Quentin State Prison in California, Cowell simplified his compositional approach - increasingly turning toward folk music and "non-Western" musical styles for inspiration. During the 1950s, he became a significant authority as an ethnomusicologist, lecturing and spending time in a variety of Asian countries including Iran and India. Cowell continued to compose for several more years but passed away from cancer in December 1965.
Cowell was an extraordinarily prolific composer of symphonies, writing 20 works in the genre, but his most singular symphonic work of all might be the "Madras" symphony, written in 1958 after two months spent in the namesake Indian city (now Chennai) in 1956 and 1957. Dedicated to the Madras Music Academy, one of the most important schools for propagating Carnatic (south Indian) music and which still exists today, it was influenced by various aspects of both Carnatic and Hindustani (north Indian) classical music.
Having myself written one or two works with influences from Carnatic music, I find this symphony to be a remarkable work. It not only incorporates key formal and stylistic aspects of Indian musical traditions - as well as traditional instruments like the tabla and jalataranga (tuned bowls filled with water) - but also retains the distinctive stamp of Cowell's own interpretation, particularly in its diverse harmonic language (often using multiple modes at the same time) and the composer's complementary use of European orchestral instruments.
Despite a few other performances (besides the premiere during Cowell's lifetime, it was also performed in 2005 by the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, albeit without Indian instruments), this piece still has no commercial recording. Especially with the increasing availability of Indian traditional instruments around the world, I hope an adventurous chamber orchestra will take up that project sooner rather than later.
![Vasily Kalinnikov - Symphony No. 2 (Score Video) [N. Järvi]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IFu1RxsVUhw/hqdefault.jpg "Vasily Kalinnikov - Symphony No. 2 (Score Video) [N. Järvi]
Performed by the Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi
00:00 I. Moderato - Allegro non troppo
10:18 II. Andante cantabile
18:25 III. Allegro scherzando
26:32 IV. Andante cantabile - Allegro vivo
Vasily Kalinnikov (1866-1901) was a Russian Romantic composer whose often colorful and energetic music drew from Russian folk melodies. For more on Kalinnikov, see my post about him on my blog: https://unknowncomposers.org/2019/03/25/special-feature-vasily-kalinnikov-the-forgotten-russian-romantic/
Written in 1897 and dedicated to the conductor Aleksandr Vinogradsky, Kalinnikovs second symphony is one of his most important works. Although I personally find the melodies of his first symphony most compelling, the second displays a mastery of form and development while retaining the exuberance and orchestral color so characteristic of his style.
Although they have begun to gain prominence in recent years, Kalinnikovs works remain rarely performed among major orchestras outside the former USSR - I hope this score video will be a small part of changing the status quo. You can find the score on Kalinnikovs IMSLP page (https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Kalinnikov,_Vasily) under Symphony No. 2 in A Major.")
