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Mennin—PIANO CONCERTO

Yardumian—PASSACAGLIA, RECITATIVES AND FUGUE (a concerto for piano and orchestra)

John Ogdon, Pianist

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Peter Mennin’s compositions have been widely performed not only in this country but also in Europe, South America and the Orient. They include Cantata de Virtute, which is based on Robert Browning’s ‘‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin,’’ Canto and Concertato (Moby Dick)—all for orchestra—as well as seven symphonies, a violin concerto and a cello concerto. There are also many works for chamber ensembles, band. chorus and piano.

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1923, Mennin attended the Oberlin Conservatory briefly before serving in the Air Force, later re- suming his studies at Eastman School of Music. In 1947 he joined the composition department of The Juilliard School. As a result of awards and grants Mennin spent the year 1957-58 in Europe, during which he was appointed Director of Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. In 1962 he returned to New York as President of Juilliard.

First recipient of the Gershwin Memorial Award, Mennin has also been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, twice by the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and by numerous other organ- izations. He has received commissions from virtually every major musi- cal organization in the United States, including the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, League of Com- posers, Juilliard Musical Foundation, Cincinnati Music Festival and the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas and Louisville.

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra was commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra in honor of the 40th anniversary of its founding. The premiere took place in Severance Hall on February 27, 1958, with Eunice Podis as soloist and George Szell conducting. The same forces gave the work its first New York performance, at Carnegie Hall, on March 7 of that year.

This concerto is a virtuoso piece in three movements, with the solo instrument pitted against the orchestra. The intricate writing of the piano part requires a performer with extraordinary technical ability.

The music has the typical Mennin characteristics—enormous pulsating drive, expressive power and naturalness of harmonic and contrapuntal flow—and unifying all of these is a lofty, poetic grandil- oquence. The concerto was recorded in the presence of the composer and under his supervision.

Igor Buketoff, Conductor Produced by John Snashall Recording Engineer: Robert Auger

Richard Yardumian, whose music Leopold Stokowski described as “beautiful and effortlessly original,” was entirely self-taught until his early twenties. Born in Philadelphia, April 5, 1917, he began compos- ing at 14 and at 19 wrote the much-performed Armenian Suite. His debut as a composer came while serving in the Army, when in April 1945 Desolate City was performed by Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra. This was the first of nearly 100 performances the Philadelphians have given (and recorded) of Yardumian’s works.

During the past decade Yardumian has increasingly become one of America’s most performed composers. His works include two sym- phonies; a violin concerto; Come, Creator Spirit, a Mass commissioned by Fordham University in commemoration of its 125th anniversary; Oratorio on the Story of Abraham, commissioned by Maryville College for its sesquicentennial celebration, and numerous other works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and chorus.

The inherent qualities of Yardumian’s music,” wrote musicologist Hans Moldenhauer, ‘‘make it cosmopolitan in the best sense of the word. Both technically and spiritually, long-standing traditions are welded into the living present....Yardumian has evolved his own language, which, in grammar and syntax, constitutes an individual 12-tone concept, entirely original and not to be likened to, or confused with, Arnold Schoenberg’s dodecaphonic system. Firmly rooted in 16th- century techniques, its modifications make it sound utterly modern.”

The Passacaglia, Recitatives and Fugue was composed in 1957 and had its premiere in Philadelphia on January 3, 1958, with Rudolf Firkusny, for whom it was written, as soloist and Ormandy conducting. It is a work that has been described as ‘“‘logical, brilliant in concept ... built with skill, purpose and deep regard .. . for solo instrument and orchestra.” 3

The first movement, which has 20 variations, was inspired by a performance of Bach’s great Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor. Its piano writing is molded along Lisztian lines, and it is based on a theme of the traditional eight measures in triple meter. The Recitatives move- ment, dialogues between the piano and various instruments, is poetic and introspective. The finale is a glowing regal march, its intricate contrapuntal treatment, with numerous canons and inversions, typical of the composer’s noble style.

‘Recorded in association with the Arts Division of the Institute of International Education

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Other RCA recordings of 20th-century music:

Bennett: Symphony No. 1 * Bax: Overture to a Picaresque Comedy ¢ Berkeley: Stravinsky: Agon « Schuller: Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee— Divertimento in B-Flat—Buketofft/Royal Philharmonic .......... LSC-3005 Lemsoon Boston Symphony 26. 22. oe ee LSC-2879 Sessions: Symphony No. 3 * Lees: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra New Music of Czechoslovakia—Sommer: Vocal Symphony (Williams; ep eUne ON Oval PUNMBUINOHE oc ee ade LSC-3095 Ustinov, Narrator) « Klusak: First Invention ¢ Fiser: 15 Prints After Direr’s Penderecki: Utrenja—Woytowicz, Meyer, McCoy, Ladysz, Lagger; Temple “Apocalypse’’—Buketotf/London Symphony ...........:..... LSC-3181 University Choirs; Ormandy/ Philadelphia Orchestra ..... Sr LSC-3180 No More Walls—David Amram performs and conducts his own music—

Schuman: Symphony No. 9 (The Ardeatine Caves) ¢ Persichetti: Sinfonia: Jazz, Folk, Near-Eastern, Symphonic .,..272725.5 00.0... -. VCS-7089 i . 9)— Philadelphi hestra LSC-321 3 na once gee bat il iad e eee ie vores oe ae Berio: Sequenza VI; Chemins II & II|—Trampler; Berio/The Juilliard Ensemble/ Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 (‘‘Babi Yar’’)—Krause; Male Chorus. London Symphony LSC-3168 Ornandy/ Philadeipnia Orchesifa ... . 66. sc LSC-3162 Se Bee ee eee ee ea a Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14—Curtin, Estes; Ormandy/Philadelphia Berio: Epifanie; Folk Songs—Berberian; Berio/BBC Symphony/The Juilliard Cee a LSC-3206 BABENNG fe bce ee ace emake oc un ei koe LSC-3189 Carter: Piano Concerto (Lateiner) « Colgrass: As Quiet As—Leinsdort/. Takemitsu: Asterism (Takahashi, Pianist); Requiem; Green (November Steps Boston Symphony ..... phon ee LSC-3001 Il); The Dorian Horizon—Ozawa/Toronto Symphony .......... LSC-3099

| dynafiex is the RCA trademark for a new development in Library of Congress card numbers: 72-752614, 76-752615 ; RCA STEREO RECORDS may be played on any record manufacturing that provides a smoother, quieter surface and Cover sculpture: Nick Aristovulos modern phonograph with a lightweight tone arm. You improved ability to reproduce musical sound. This lightweight record pee. 5: ae : ‘ : will hear excellent sound reproduction on a mono also virtually eliminates warpage and turntable slippage. Timings: Side 1—11:04, 8:23, 5:57 (ASCAP) | player and full stereo sound on a stereo player. Side 2—8:12, 9:13 (ASCAP)

TMK(S) ® by RCA Corporation dye eee ee a eee en ee he ee © 1971, RCA Records, New York, N.Y. ¢ Printed in U.S.A. 2

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