Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson | |
---|---|
George Foster Peabody Award |
Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)
Early life and education
Hanson was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, to Swedish immigrant parents, Hans and Hilma (née Eckstrom) Hanson. In his youth he studied music with his mother. Later, he studied at Luther College in Wahoo, receiving a diploma in 1911, then at the Institute of Musical Art, the forerunner of the Juilliard School, in New York City, where he studied with the composer and music theorist Percy Goetschius in 1914.[1][4][5]
Afterward he attended
Career
In 1916, Hanson was hired for his first full-time position as a music theory and composition teacher at the
In 1921 Hanson was the first winner of the Prix de Rome in Music (the
Upon returning from Rome, Hanson's conducting career expanded. He made his premiere conducting the
In 1924, Eastman chose Hanson to be director of the Eastman School of Music. Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera and roll film, was also a major philanthropist, and used some of his great wealth to endow the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.[12][13]
Hanson held the position of director for forty years, during which he created one of the most prestigious music schools in America.[1] He accomplished this by improving the curriculum, bringing in better teachers, and refining the school's orchestras.[14] Also, he balanced the school's faculty between American and European teachers, even when this meant passing up composer Béla Bartók. Hanson offered a position to Bartók teaching composition at Eastman, but Bartók declined as he did not believe that one could teach composition. Instead, Bartók wanted to teach piano at the Eastman School, but Hanson already had a full staff of piano instructors.[citation needed]
External audio | |
---|---|
You may hear Howard Hanson conducting his Symphony No. 1 in E minor Op. 21 (Nordic) with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra in 1944 Here on archive.org | |
You may hear Howard Hanson conducting music by Samuel Barber with his Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra in 1965 Here on archive.org |
In 1925, Hanson established the American Composers Orchestral Concerts. He followed that in 1931 by establishing the annual Festivals of American Music. These week long concerts were free to the public and featured established works by American composers as well as premiers of new compositions. They included performances of: orchestral works, chamber music, band and wind ensemble music, vocal and chamber music, opera and ballet. The festival concerts were eagerly anticipated by audiences in Rochester until 1971 and were also broadcast regularly over national radio networks from the Eastman Theater. Critics have often observed that over the course of four decades "more music has been played at these concerts than in all the rest of the United States put together."[15]
Hanson's interest in educating the general public through innovative means became apparent as early as 1938. At this time he engaged the talents of student ensembles at the Eastman School to present Milestones in the History of Music on the radio. This weekly series of programs presented a sweeping survey of the history of Western music which was broadcast locally in Rochester, New York on
Later in 1939, he founded the
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky commissioned Hanson's Symphony No. 2, the "Romantic", and premiered it on November 28, 1930. This work was to become Hanson's best known. One of its themes is performed at the conclusion of all concerts at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.[20] Now known as the "Interlochen Theme", it is conducted by a student concertmaster after the featured conductor has left the stage. Traditionally, no applause follows its performance.[21] It is also widely known for its use in the final scene and end credits of the 1979 Ridley Scott film Alien.[22]
External image | |
---|---|
Photograph of Howard Hanson conducting in New York City in 1959 Here on Getty images |
In some ways Hanson's opera Merry Mount (1934) may be considered the first fully American opera. It was written by an American composer and an American librettist on an American story, and was premiered with a mostly American cast at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1934.[23] The Opera received fifty curtain calls at its Met premiere, a record that still stands. In 1935, he wrote "Three Songs from Drum Taps", based on the poem by Walt Whitman.[24][25]
Frederick Fennell, conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, described Hanson's first band composition, the 1954 Chorale and Alleluia as "the most awaited piece of music to be written for the wind band in my twenty years as a conductor in this field". Chorale and Alleluia is still a required competition piece for high school bands in the New York State School Music Association's repertoire list.[26][citation needed]
By 1957, Hanson was inspired once again by the poetry of Walt Whitman and completed his Song of Democracy to mark the hundredth anniversary of the National Education Association and the fiftieth anniversary of the Music Educator's National Conference. Hanson conducted its official premier with the
During the 1950s and 1960s Howard Hanson continued to adapt innovative techniques in an effort to educate as large an audience as possible, even as revolutionary changes in mass media emerged in America. For example, he collaborated with the
External audio | |
---|---|
You may hear Howard Hanson conducting Aaron Copland's Music for the Theatre – Suite in Five Parts for Small Orchestra (1925) with his Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra in 1940 Here on archive.org |
Following his retirement as Director of the Eastman School of Music in 1964, Hanson was appointed as the first director of the newly established Institute for American Music at the University of Rochester. In this new role, Hanson continued his efforts to foster a widespread understanding and appreciation of American music through performances, publications and recordings. Operating funds for the institute were largely derived from royalties generated from compositions and recordings which were executed by Hanson during his tenure at the Eastman School. Following his death in 1981, Hanson's wife Peggy assumed his responsibilities at the institute until her passing in 1996.[34] It has been observed that nearly every American composer since World War I is indebted in some degree to Howard Hanson for his efforts to educate the public and future generations of professional musicians about American music.[1][35][4][7]
Hanson was elected as a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1935, President of the Music Teachers' National Association from 1929 to 1930, and President of the National Association of Schools of Music from 1935 to 1939. From 1946 to 1962, he was active in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO commissioned Hanson's Pastorale for Oboe and Piano, and Pastorale for Oboe, Strings, and Harp, for the 1949 Paris conference of the world body.[36]
During the course of his career Hanson also served as a guest conductor for several leading orchestras including: the
Marriage
Hanson met Margaret Elizabeth Nelson at her parents' summer home on
Legacy and honors
- Hanson was an initiate of two chapters of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1954.[40]
- After he composed the Hymn of the Pioneers to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the first Swedish settlement in Royal Swedish Academy in 1938.[1]
- In 1944, Hanson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Symphony No. 4, subtitled Requiem.[1]
- In 1945, he became the first recipient of the Ditson Conductor's Award for his commitment to American music.[1]
- In 1946, Hanson was awarded the George Foster
- Hanson was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1950.[42]
- In 1953, Hanson helped to establish the Edward B. Benjamin Prize "for calming and uplifting music" written by Eastman students. Each submitted score was read by Hanson and the Eastman Orchestra. Winners of the Benjamin Prize appeared on Hanson's recording Music for Quiet Listening.[citation needed]
- In 1959, Hanson won the first Lancaster Symphony Orchestra Composer's Award, which is the oldest award of its kind in America and is awarded annually to a contemporary composer by the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (established in 1947). Hanson was a friend and colleague of the Founding Conductor of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, the late Louis Vyner.[43]
- In 1960, Hanson published Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale, a book that would lay the foundation for Z-relationship.[31]
- Hanson was on the Board of Directors of the Music Educators National Conference from 1960 to 1964.[31]
- Hanson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961.[44]
- Hanson's Song of Democracy, on a Walt Whitman text, was performed at the inaugural concert for incoming U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1969. Hanson proudly noted this was the first inaugural concert to feature only American music.[45]
- In recognition of Hanson's achievements, the Eastman Kodak company donated $100,000 worth of stock to the Eastman School of Music in 1976. Hanson stipulated that the gift be used to fund the Institute of American Music.[citation needed]
- Hanson was a Distinguished Nebraskans Award Recipient in 1976.[46]
Popular culture
Excerpts from Hanson's Second Symphony were used to accompany several exterior sequences and the end credits in the released versions of
Death
Hanson died at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife Margaret Elizabeth Nelson. [1]
Compositional style
Hanson's music has been described as part of the
It should also be noted, however, that Hanson's compositions also incorporated experimentation with modern musical idioms.
It has also been noted that one of Hanson's hallmarks as a composer is his utilization of melodic lines which flow seamlessly in a manner which is almost improvisational, unpretentious, and very American.[55] The composer and critic David Owens indicated that Hanson clearly embraced the use of tonal beauty in his compositions in order to give expression to a conservative musical ideal. By carefully blending his use of tonality with a masterful understanding of orchestral depth, Hanson succeeded in producing compositions which Owen described as being both memorable and compelling.[56]
Perhaps Hanson described his music best when he portrayed it as metaphorically "springing from the soil of the American midwest. It is music of the plains rather than of the city and reflects, I believe, something of the broad prairies of my native Nebraska."[7][57]
Works
External audio | |
---|---|
You may hear Howard Hanson's Serenade for Flute, Harp and Strings Op. 35 conducted by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1947 on archive.org |
Included among Hanson's compositions are the following works:[58]
Opera
- Merry Mount (1933)
Orchestral
- Symphonic Prelude (1916)
- Symphonic Legend (1917)
- Symphonic Rhapsody (1919)
- Before the Dawn, Symphonic Poem (1920)
- Exaltation, Symphonic Poem, Op. 20 (1920)
- Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 21 ("Nordic") (1922)
- Lux aeterna, Symphonic Poem for Orchestra with Viola Obbligato, Op. 24 (1923–26)
- Pan and the Priest, Symphonic Poem with Piano Obbligato, Op. 26 (1926)
- Organ Concerto, Op. 27 (1926)
- Symphony No. 2 in D♭ major Op. 30 ("Romantic") (1930)
- Suite from the Opera "Merry Mount," Op. 31 (1938)
- Symphony No. 3 Op. 33 (1936–38)
- Symphony No. 4 Op. 34 ("Requiem") (1943; won Pulitzer Prize)
- Serenade for Flute, Harp and Strings Op. 35 (1945)
- Pastorale for Oboe, Harp and Strings Op. 38 (1949)
- Fantasy-Variations on a Theme of Youth (1951)
- Symphony No. 5 Op. 43, "Sinfonia Sacra" (1955)
- Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitzky Op. 44 (1956)
- Mosaics (1957)
- Summer Seascape (1958)
- Bold Island Suite (1961)
- For the First Time (1963)
- Symphony No. 6 (1967)
- Dies Natalis (1967)
- Symphony No. 7 ("A Sea Symphony") (1977)
- Ballet Nymphs and Satyr (1979)
Choral
- A Prayer of the Middle Ages
- North and West, Symphonic poem with Chorus Obligato (1923)
- The Lament for Beowulf, Op. 25 (1925)
- Heroic Elegy for wordless chorus and orchestra (1927)
- Three Songs from Drum Taps (Walt Whitman), Op. 32 for baritone, chorus & orchestra (1935)
- The Cherubic Hymn, Op. 37 for chorus and orchestra (1949)
- How Excellent Thy Name Op. 41, (1952)
- Song of Democracy, Op. 44 (1957) for wind ensemble, string orchestra and SATB Choir
- Song of Human Rights, Op. 49 (1963) (text from the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
- The One Hundred Fiftieth Psalm (Praise Ye The Lord) for chorus and orchestra (1965)
- The One Hundred Twenty First Psalm for baritone, chorus and orchestra (1968)
- Streams in the Desert for chorus and orchestra (1969)
- The Mystic Trumpeter for narrator, chorus and orchestra (1970)
- New Land, New Covenant oratorio (1976)
Band
- Centennial March (1966)
- Chorale and Alleluia (1954)
- Dies Natalis II (1972)
- Laude
- Variations on an Ancient Hymn
Concertante
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major, Op. 36 (1948)
- Concerto for organ, harp & strings in C, Op 22/3 (1921)
- Summer Seascape No.2 for Viola and String Orchestra (1965)
Chamber
- Quintet in F minor, for 2 Violins, Cello and Piano (1916)
- Concerto da Camera in C Minor for Piano and String Quartet (1917), Op. 7
- String Quartet (1923), Op. 23
- Serenade for Flute, Harp and Strings (1946), Op. 35
- Pastorale for Oboe and Piano (1949), reorchestrated as alternative Pastorale for Oboe, Harp and Strings (1950), both Op. 38
- Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth (1951)
- Elegy for Viola and String Quartet (1966)
Keyboard
- Poèmes érotiques, Op. 9
- Sonata in A Minor, Op. 11
- Three Miniatures for Piano, Op. 12
- Symphonic Rhapsody, Op. 14
- Three Etudes, Op. 18
- Two Yuletide Pieces, Op. 19
Music theory
Harmonic Materials of Modern Music (1960), Irvington.
Discography
- A boxed set of Howard Hanson conducting the Eastman Philharmonia in his symphonies, piano concerto, etc., is available on the Mercury label. A companion set from Mercury, a compilation of Hanson conducting lesser known American works, is also available.
- His Symphony No. 2 is probably his most recorded work. In addition to the composer's own recording, those by Erich Kunzel, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz and Charles Gerhardt are also popular. Also, the Interlochen Center for the Arts uses part of this symphony as its theme (see detailed explanation above).
- Naxos Recordsreleased a recording of the 1934 world premiere performance of Merry Mount in 1999. For copyright reasons it was not made available in the United States.
Recordings by Howard Hanson conducting his own compositions with the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra include:[59]
- Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitzky Op. 44 – Mercury Records (SR90150) – Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1957)
- The Lament for Beowulf Op. 25 – Mercury Records (SR90192) – Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1958)
- Song of Democracy Op. 44 – Mercury Records (#432 0008-2) – Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1957)
- Symphony No. 1 in E Minor Op. 21 (Nordic) – Mercury Records (#432 008-2) – Hanson conducting the Eastman- Rochester Orchestra (1960)
- Symphony No. 2 in D-Flat Major Op. 30 (Romantic) – Mercury Records (#432 0008-2)- Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1958)
- Symphony No. 3 Op. 33 – Mercury Records (SR90449) – Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra (1963)
Notable students
During the course of his forty-year tenure as Director of the Eastman School of Music, Howard Hanson also served as a member of the faculty of Composition. Several of his students won the Pulitzer Prize for Music including: Dominick Argento, John La Montaine and Robert Ward. In addition, several of his students enjoyed widespread recognition as composers including: Wayne Barlow, Jack Beeson, William Bergsma, Ulysses Kay, Kent Kennan, Peter Mennin, Louis Mennini, W. Francis McBeth, Gardner Read, and Margaret Vardell Sandresky.[60][61][62][63][64]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i The New York Times – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 10119 Howard Hanson is Dead; Composer and Teacher
- ^ Swedes In America (Adolph B. Benson; Naboth Hedin. New York: Haskel House Publishers. 1969)
- ^ ISBN 0-313-32135-3.
- ^ ISBN 1-57607-098-0.
- ^ Nebraska State Historical Society – "Music From the Soil of the American Midwest –" Erich Backenberg. Nebraska HistoryHoward Hanson – Educator, Composer, Conducto, Vol. 81 (Spring 2000) pp. 23–34 Nebraska State Historical Society – "Music From the Soil of the American Midwest -" Howard Hanson on nebraska.gov
- ^ Howard Hanson (Modern Classical, Inc.)
- ^ a b c Nebraska State Historical Society – "Music From the Soil of the American Midwest -" Erich Backenberg. Nebraska HistoryHoward Hanson – Educator, Composer, Conducto, Vol. 81 (Spring 2000) pp. 23-34 Nebraska State Historical Society – "Music From the Soil of the American Midwest -" Howard Hanson on nebraska.gov
- ^ Hanson, Howard (Harold), May you 17, 2018, Encyclopedia.com
- ISBN 0-313-32135-3
- ISBN 0-8156-0808-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-32135-3
- ISBN 1-893122-99-9
- ^ Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia – Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award Recipients – Howard Hanson 1954 and The Eastman School of Music on sinfonia.org
- ^
- ^ American Works for Solo Winds Works by Bernard Rogers, Wayne Barlow, Burrill Phillips and Homer Keller conducted by Howard Hanson on Archive.org
- ^ The New Criterion; July 2002. "Perfect Moments at Interlochen," by Jay Nordlinger. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
- ^ About this Recording: Howard Hanson (1896–1981), Symphony No. 2 ‘Romantic’ (Naxos Digital Services Ltd.)
- ISBN 978-1-4616-2119-5.
- ISBN 978-0-415-89057-1.
- ISBN 978-1-57463-094-7
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4616-2119-5
- ^ ISBN 978-1-74332-603-9
- ^
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-8400-7
- ^ The Whistling Blackbird: Essays and Talks on New Music. Morris, Robert. 2010 p. 31
- ISBN 978-1-4616-5766-8.
- ^ Eastman School of Music – History of the Howard Hanson Institute For American Music on esm.rochester.edu
- ^
- ^ Howard Hanson profile Archived March 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary Composer Biographies website; accessed November 30, 2015.
- ^ Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia – Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award Recipients – Howard Hanson 1954 on sinfonia.org
- ^ University of Georgia – "Peabody Stories that Matter: WHAM Radio and Howard Hanson on peabodyawards.com
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ Musical Leader Volumes 90–91 1958 p. 39. Howard Hanson and the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra Composer's Award
- ^ "Howard Hanson". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ "1976 Distinguished Nebraskans Award Recipient (The Nebraska Society of Washington, D.C., Inc.)". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ISBN 1-903889-94-4.
- ^ Cohen, Allen Howard Hanson in Theory and Practice pp. 24–25 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004)
- ^ "Dr. Bob Prescribes: Howard Hanson, Symphony No. 2 | Robert Greenberg | Speaker, Composer, Author, Professor, Historian".
- ^ ISBN 0-313-32135-3
- ^ Onmusic Dictionary – Profile of Howard Hanson on dictionary.onmusic.org
- ^ Howard Hanson's discography on worldcat.org
- ISBN 0-313-32135-3
- ^ "The American Bandmaster's Association – Past Presidents #56 – Biography of W. Francis McBeth: a student of Howard Hanson- Eastman School of Music" on americanbandmasters.org
- ^ Encyclopedia of Arkansas – William Francis McBeth Biography – McBeth studied at the Eastman School of Music on encyclopediaofarkansas.net
- ^ The Eastman School of Music Archives – W. Francis McBeth Papers (1961–1992) See Biographical note on page 203 "He studied at the Eastman School of Music with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson during the summers of 1959 to 1964" on esm.rochester.edu
- ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
Sources
- Autry, Philip Earl The Published Solo Piano Music Of Howard Hanson: An Analysis For Teaching And Performing (U. M. I. 1996)
- Cohen, Allen Laurence (2004). Howard Hanson in Theory and Practice. Westport, CT.: Praeger. ISBN 0-313-32135-3.
- Goss, Madeleine Modern Music-Makers: Contemporary American Composers (Greenwood Press, Publishers. 1952)
- Perone, James Howard Hanson: A Bio-Bibliography (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993)
- Machlis, Joseph American Composers of Our Time (Thomas Y. Crowell. 1963)
- Simmons, Walter Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006)
- Shetler, Donald J. In Memoriam Howard Hanson (Music Educators Natl. 1984)
- Williams, David Russell Conversations with Howard Hanson (Arkadelphia, Arkansas: Delta Publications, 1988)
- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, The Beast Within: The Making of Alien (2004)
External links
- Howard Hanson's page at Carl Fischer
- Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale by Howard Hanson (1960), now available free in various electronic formats on archive.org
- Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale by Howard Hanson (1960), now available free in various electronic formats on openlibrary.org
- Classical Composers Database
- Clog Dance sheet music Nebraska Memories
- Howard Hanson: An American Romantic