While John von Rhein’s list of “Millennial masterworks” (Arts & Entertainment, July 25) is thought-provoking and insightful, I feel compelled to toss in my two cents.
The list is a bit too heavy with American romantics. While the works of Barber, Harris and Schuman are not without merit, they are essentially dead-end works that are little known outside this country. On the other hand, while Milton Babbitt is not one of my personal favorites, his work had enormous impact, even beyond the confines of American academia.
Von Rhein naturally lists Cage’s “4’33,” and surely this is a textbook case of a musical work that shook up the establishment. If I had to include just one Cage work, however, it would be the Sonatas and Interludes, which was both revolutionary and stunningly beautiful. Speaking of works that push the boundaries of timbre, where in the list are the works of George Crumb and Iannis Xenakis?
Two minimalist works are mentioned, but Terry Riley’s “In C” is curiously omitted. This was not only the progenitor of minimalism, but remains one of that school’s greatest works. Speaking of minimalists, I would remove post-minimalist Taverner’s “The Protecting Veil” in favor of a work of countryman Harrison Birtwistle, generally considered the finest British composer of our age.
Finally, where are the women? The ascent of female composers in the second half of the century is one of the age’s most notable developments. My own top pick would be the Russian Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Offertorium,” a stunning work that took the Western world by storm in the early 1980s.
— Michael Cameron, Professor of Music, University of Illinois
SOME ADJUSTMENTS
HOPKINS, Minn. — I would agree with most of John von Rhein’s 50 picks for best works of the 20th Century except as follows:
I would add Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde,” as it is really a symphony and in the same class as the 9th. I’d also add Vaughan William’s 4th Symphony, which is a powerhouse of a work. As for Shostakovich, I’d substitute his 10th for the 8th. This is clearly his best symphonic work — his getting back at Stalin plus his homage to Mahler. In fact, it sounds best when played like Mahler, i.e., moving fast.
I, too, like Sibelius’ 5th the best. But like Beethoven’s Ninth, it usually is performed wrong. Fritz Reiner’s Friday opening concert in October 1957 was the finest performance I ever heard of this work.
One last point. Some weeks ago Von Rhein said that a 1978 concert was Carlo Maria Giulini’s last performance in Chicago. I attended a concert the day after Thanksgiving in 1979 with Claudio Arrau doing the “Emperor” on his 75th birthday. The “Eroica” was done after intermission. I could have sworn Giulini was on the podium!
— Kenneth S. Sachs
DISCORDANT NOTE
WHEELING — I realize that selecting 50 pieces of music that best represent the 20th Century is no small task. I couldn’t help but feel that some very significant works were left unrecognized:
Gustav Holst: First Suite in E Flat for Military Band (1909). This was the first serious piece of music written for the modern concert band. Holst’s music helped to make the wind ensemble a viable medium for composers.
Percy Aldridge Grainger: “Lincolnshire Posy” (1937). One of the great masterworks for winds. Grainger’s ideas of “choirs” of like wind instruments helped standardize instrumentation in the wind band. One of the first composers to embrace the saxophone.
Joseph Schwantner: “. . . and the mountains rising nowhere” (1977). While not specifically a programmatic work, Schwantner’s music certainly paints a vivid image of Carol Adler’s poem. The work is scored for 50 percussion instruments, woodwinds, brass, amplified piano, string bass, and tuned glass crystals.
Randall Thompson: Alleluia (1940). Written for the Tanglewood Music Center. Serge Koussevitsky wanted a living American composer to write a fanfare for the opening ceremony. The result was Thompson’s choral masterpiece.
John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1 (1991). Premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during their 100th season. This piece was written as an AIDS memorial. A monumental piece of music written to capture the devastation of one of the most feared infections in recent history.
I hope you find these pieces as special as I do.
— Rick LoPresto
NEAR HARMONY
EVANSTON — Being a lover of 20th Century “classical music” for many years, your article brought to light several pieces I have yet to discover, but will soon.
I have a substitute for your list. For the 1930s, you list Ravel’s Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra. Though a likable work with a lovely second movement, it does not hold a candle to Ravel’s majestic Concerto in D for Piano Left Hand.
Finally, I certainly agree with your choice of “Le Sacre du Printemps” as the No. 1 masterwork. Stravinsky’s music continues to fascinate, surprise and thrill 86 years after its premiere. Very few musical pieces can still sound so fresh after nearly a century. I also cast my vote for Stravinsky as the No. 1 influential “serious” composer of the 20th Century.
— Michael Pettersen
TWO ADDITIONS
CHICAGO — I would like to add a couple of classical music masterpieces that I feel should have made it to John von Rhein’s list.
George Crumb: “Ancient Voices of Children” (1970). It is a rare modern work that keeps you on the edge of your seat like this one does. This Crumb work is a deliriously infectious maternal/child study burbling with primitive flare and guttural angst. When this work was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra last year, everyone in Symphony Center looked like they were nearly hypnotized. I still can’t get it out of my head.
Ricardo Lorenz: “Pataruco” Concerto for Orchestra and Maracas (1998). Lorenz effortlessly blends wisps of Broadway swagger and spiky Spanish themes in a highly mercurial work that somehow never seems spurious or gratuitous. When this work had its world premiere with the Chicago Sinfonietta in March, it received a vociferous standing ovation — very rare for 20th Century stuff.
— Blair Cooke
A FEW QUIBBLES
ELMHURST — I enjoyed John von Rhein’s “Millennial masterworks” very much, even though I usually avoid ranking and list-making. I might have elected John Adams rather than Tavener or Reich, and I would have included Zoltan Kodaly, Bohuslav Martinu and Ernst von Dohnanyi instead of listing more than one work by a single composer, though one could hardly argue with “Elektra” and “Rosenkavalier.” Martinu and Dohnanyi were not sufficiently innovative, perhaps, but, one might argue, neither were Copland or Barber.
I disagree with the inclusion of “West Side Story,” not because it isn’t good — it is — but because it belongs to a different genre. The distinction is an important one in the era of “crossover,” a term that really refers to a kind of dumbing down for marketing purposes. I would make the same objection to Gershwin’s “easy listening” output. With a growing catalog of American operas of real quality or originality — Floyd’s “Susannah,” for example — I would certainly give “Porgy and Bess” a pass.
Howard Hanson does belong on the list, and it was good to see Roy Harris and William Schuman included.
— Michael Nevin
NASTY NEIGHBORS
NORRIDGE — On “Losing Yardage” (Arts & Entertainment, Aug. 1): We have a sign a few blocks from our house: “Community Watch.” But who is watching? The changes are gradual. The newcomers come into the neighborhood with the attitude of “this is my property, I can do whatever I want with it.” The original homeowners planted trees, evergreens, shrubs, and landscaped the houses. The newcomers pulled out the bushes, chained and uprooted shade trees and evergreens, denuded the entire block. Try finding a bit of shade on our street in the summer.
The community spirit of pride and friendliness has been replaced.
The neighbor wants to build a bigger and better garage, or deck. He needs an acre. He has a postage stamp. He builds his wish and obstructs the neighbors’ views, smothers his yard with flowers that will jump the fence. The newcomer requires you respect his rights to his property but offers no respect to any consideration of your rights and what you might see on the other side of the fence.
Expanding driveways into the back yard. Pouring cement for a patio large enough to have a car park on the patio. Some day all the lumber, plastic and cement won’t be worth a penny, and a patch of green grass will be as rare as a $1,000 bill.
— Florence Zielinski
