Second Concert of the 71st Season

Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1908, and died in Woodbury, Conn., in 1975. He is best known for his attractive melodies and jaunty rhythms in such pieces as The Syncopated Clock, Sleigh Ride, Blue Tango, Jazz Pizzicato, and many others.

Anderson studied composition at Harvard with Georges Enesco and Walter Piston. He was a linguist, speaking Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese. He almost accepted a position as language teacher at a private school in Pennsylvania, but fortunately backed out of that option in favor of composing. He served with U.S. Intelligence in Iceland as an interpreter during the Second World War. In addition to the well-known pieces mentioned above, he wrote a number of short works for unusual "instruments" such as the typewriter, and sandpaper, for his Sandpaper Ballet.

Anderson was "discovered" by Arthur Fiedler, who commissioned him to write many works for the Boston Pops Orchestra. He soon became one of the most popular composers of light music in America. His tunes were frequently used as background music for television shows, such as the CBS "Late Show." Plink, Plank, Plunk! was known to many in the '50s as the theme for the TV game show "I've Got a Secret."

Though Anderson was best known for his light miniatures and arrangements (he typically wrote for full orchestra, but later re-orchestrated many of them for bands and other groups), he did try his hand at more substantial forms. He wrote a Piano Concerto in C, but withdrew it to "make corrections." He never got around to making those corrections, but the work was published posthumously, and can be found on the Naxos label.

The work we hear today is a medley of favorite Christmas tunes, including Joy to the World, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, and others that you will surely recognize.

Although Menotti was born in Italy, and retained his Italian citizenship until his recent death, he is regarded by many as an American composer. His mother brought him to this country when he was seventeen, and he enrolled in the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Before coming to the United States, he had entered the Milan Conservatory at the age of thirteen, and before that, had written two operas! Although he has written attractive orchestral music, he is best known as a composer of opera, and many of them were commissioned for television and radio broadcasts.

His most successful work is Amahl and the Night Visitors, commissioned by NBC-TV in 1951 for a Christmas broadcast. Since then, it has been broadcast and performed on stage as a regular event on Christmas eve, rivaling Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in such a role. That particular work brought him great fame. When he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, he expected his mother to accept the fact that he had, indeed, arrived. Unfortunately, she hadn't heard of Time or at least didn't think it was an important publication.

In 1958, Menotti founded the Spoleto Festival in Italy in an effort to bring his native country and his adopted one together. He called it the Festival of Two Worlds. In 1977, he founded a companion festival in Charleston, S.C. He directed it until 1993, when he became director of the Rome Opera.

He has received many honors, including the Kennedy Center for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, and in 1991, "Musician of the Year" by Musical America.

Menotti on the one hand, has been condemned as being too conservative, and on the other, praised as having written music accessible to the masses. He has explored a number of modern styles, though mostly as parody. His inclination is toward Puccini lyricism, but with occasional nods to Schönberg.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a short opera (approximately 46 minutes) about a visit from the Magi to the hut of the crippled child Amahl and his mother. They are on their way to Bethlehem and need a place to stay for the night. When the impoverished mother sees the riches before her, and is told that they are gifts for a different child, she becomes bitter. During the night, she steals some of the gold. When the Wise Men explain for whom the gifts are intended, she repents and returns the gold. Amahl, too, feels the need to contribute, but the only thing of value to him is his crutch. He gives that to the Magi, and is thus cured of his affliction. At the end of the opera, Amahl joins the Wise Men on their trip to Bethlehem.