Monday Musicale with the Maestro – September 14, 2020 – In Search of the Great American Symphony, Part 1:

In Search of the Great American Symphony, Part 1:

Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 (“Romantic”)

Durham Symphony Orchestra fans know that as Music Director of this orchestra for over a decade, I have programmed at least one piece by an American composer on each one of our concerts. And with the DSO I have commissioned world premieres by nine American composers, both established and just beginning. Since becoming interested in classical music as a young teen, I have felt a powerful attraction to the music composed in this country. And for a half century I have been on a mission to investigate and perform the very best of this music. It has always been my dream to write a book about the many American symphonies I have studied. The subject being so vast, I have decided (for now at least) to write a series of blogs about my favorite great American symphonies, hoping that readers will be moved to investigate these exciting and eminently accessible treasures.

Since the time of Beethoven, the creation of a symphony (a large-scale orchestral composition, usually in several movements) has been regarded as the ultimate serious and significant achievement for a composer. The first generation of American symphonists were based on the East coast—the location of the few, fledgling music schools and orchestras at that time. And the very first large-scale orchestral work by an American composer was the Santa Claus: Christmas Symphony (1853) by William Henry Fry (1813-1864). Several years ago at a holiday concert, the DSO and I performed this fun and vivid piece—really an orchestral fantasy subdivided into scenes (e.g. a party, a snowstorm, the arrival of Santa Claus). Other symphonists of that time included Charles Ives (1874-1954) and George Whitfield Chadwick (1854-1931). In past seasons the DSO and I have performed “Thanksgiving” from Ives’ Holidays Symphony and Chadwick’s “Jubilee” from his Symphonic Sketches, both composed in 1904.

In the next generation, many of the finest American symphonists hailed from the Midwest, including Virgil Thomson (Kansas), Roy Harris (Oklahoma), and Howard Hanson (Nebraska). Hanson’s long affiliation with the Eastman School or Music (Rochester, NY) may be somewhat misleading when it comes to the roots of his music. In describing his compositions, Hanson is clear about his debt to his home state: “It is music of the plains rather than the city and reflects, I believe, something of the broad prairies of my native Nebraska.”

Howard Hanson was born to Swedish-American parents in Wahoo, Nebraska on October 28, 1896, and died in Rochester, New York on February 26, 1981. A multifaceted genius, he was not only a composer, but also a magnificent conductor and a fervent advocate for American music. He was also an inspired educator. Until the founding of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City (1905) and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (1924), American musicians frequently had to go to Europe if they wanted a comprehensive education in classical music. Hanson believed that Americans deserved to have conservatories here that were the equal of those found in Europe.

To that end, he served as Director of the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York) for 40 years, strongly supporting the commissioning and performance of new works by American composers. He established the American Composers Orchestral Concerts in 1925, and in 1930, he began the annual Festivals of American Music (which continued to 1971). In 1964, after his retirement from Eastman, he became director of its newly created Institute for American Music.

History of the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music

I have loved the music of Howard Hanson since the age of 14, when I first heard the suite from his opera Merry Mount (1933), which was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The May-pole of Merry Mount,” the opera is set in a 17th-century century Puritan settlement in the Massachusetts Bay colony. Its Met stage premiere on February 10, 1934 was a sensational success, receiving 50 curtain calls–which as of 2020 is still a house record! Here is an excerpt from that work, which should be in the repertoire of every American orchestra.

Between 1923 and 1977, Hanson wrote seven symphonies. His Symphony No. 4, opus 34 (premiered on Dec 3, 1943 by the Boston Symphony) was awarded a Pulitzer the next year. In 1967, Leonard Bernstein (Music Director of the New York Philharmonic) commissioned Hanson’s Symphony No. 6 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the orchestra.

All of these works are powerful statements that live up to the Beethovenian model of symphonic grandeur and substance. A special feature of Hanson’s music is his inspired melodic gift, which enabled him to write some of the most rapturously lyrical music written in the 20th century. An example of this is the second movement from his Symphony No. 3. If there is a more heartbreakingly beautiful composition by an American composer, I have yet to hear it.

His 2nd Symphony, though, is his work most often performed. Commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony, it was a huge success at its premiere on November 28, 1930. Soon after, Arturo Toscanini ( in my opinion the greatest conductor of all time ) performed it with the New York Philharmonic.

In explaining his subtitle “Romantic” for the symphony, Hanson notes, “It is a work young in spirit, romantic in temperament and simple and direct in expression.” The symphony is in three movements and is a passionate but plain-speaking work decked out in the colorful orchestration that is Hanson’s trademark.

The DSO and I performed this work on our Music from the Movies concert (April 19, 2015). Hanson did not compose for film. But there are two types of movie music: that written specifically for a film and that chosen from other sources by a film’s director. The radiant melody heard in all three movements of Hanson’s 2nd Symphony was used by director Ridley Scott for the closing credits of his 1979 film Alien. Unfortunately, Scott did not ask permission, and Hanson was not pleased to have his most famous melody associated with a science fiction horror movie! However, he decided it would be just too much trouble to fight it in court.

By programming the piece for our Music from the Movies program, I was able to share this story from the stage—a bit of justice for Hanson, perhaps!—and to showcase with our players the full sweep of this magnificent American work.

The Finale of this symphony is a perfect example of Hanson’s open-hearted music and his gift for describing the grandeur of America’s wide-open spaces.

William Henry Curry
Music Director
Durham Symphony Orchestra

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This project was supported by the Durham Arts Council’s Annual Arts Fund and the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.