2008 Woodie Awards
Composer Harold Schiffman is honored by the UNCG School of Music
A review
John Pavik
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Harold Schiffman's career actually began in Greensboro. As a teenager, he studied with Elliot Weisbarber at the Women's College, as UNCG was then known, before completing his studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and Florida State University. Additional mentors of Schiffman's included Ernest von Dohnyani and Roger Sessions.
After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Schiffman traveled to Minnesota and Philadelphia where he heard some of this century's greatest performers, such as Claudio Arrau and Joseph Szigeti.
In celebration of his upcoming 80th birthday, the UNCG School of Music assembled a retrospective of his entire body of work. First on the bill was his Concertino for flute and string orchestra followed by three pieces for piano. Neither work deserved much attention, except to highlight the ease with which they were forgotten.
The next piece, his Pentalogue for violin and piano, was a breath of fresh air. This striking, though somewhat chilling, piece demanded so much of the violinist that his peg came loose-a rare achievement indeed. Following his Pentalogue, the audience was given the opportunity to hear Schiffman's Concertino for eleven saxophones, a piece that got better as it went.
The final work was the North Carolina premier of Alma, his cantata based on Stripling Byer's book Wildwood Flower. Watching the audience's faces during the performance showed they were awe-struck as they were confused. The piece waffled between unsettling atonality and the pristine "pretty" writing one would expect from depiction of the Appalachian mountains and the Bible.
The third movement contained several gut-wrenching brass calls, only to be followed by a wispy little fourth movement that came and went before the audience knew it. Overall, the piece was enjoyable and highly virtuosic but somewhat unfulfilling, a conclusion that can be applied to much of what Schiffman has written.
"For as long as I can remember, the music that has appealed to me most strongly, and that I feel most deeply, is characterized by a sensation of movement, of progression, of melodic, harmonic, and temporal flow, of strong rhythmic energy and shape. I like a sense of direction and eventual arrival at a destination," Schiffman states on his website.
Even though Schiffman is in his 80th year, he shows no sign of letting up. Last year he premiered song cycle, "Blood Mountain" and completed his second symphony to be performed soon.
For more information on Harold Schiffman, visit http://www.haroldschiffman-composer.com.
After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Schiffman traveled to Minnesota and Philadelphia where he heard some of this century's greatest performers, such as Claudio Arrau and Joseph Szigeti.
In celebration of his upcoming 80th birthday, the UNCG School of Music assembled a retrospective of his entire body of work. First on the bill was his Concertino for flute and string orchestra followed by three pieces for piano. Neither work deserved much attention, except to highlight the ease with which they were forgotten.
The next piece, his Pentalogue for violin and piano, was a breath of fresh air. This striking, though somewhat chilling, piece demanded so much of the violinist that his peg came loose-a rare achievement indeed. Following his Pentalogue, the audience was given the opportunity to hear Schiffman's Concertino for eleven saxophones, a piece that got better as it went.
The final work was the North Carolina premier of Alma, his cantata based on Stripling Byer's book Wildwood Flower. Watching the audience's faces during the performance showed they were awe-struck as they were confused. The piece waffled between unsettling atonality and the pristine "pretty" writing one would expect from depiction of the Appalachian mountains and the Bible.
The third movement contained several gut-wrenching brass calls, only to be followed by a wispy little fourth movement that came and went before the audience knew it. Overall, the piece was enjoyable and highly virtuosic but somewhat unfulfilling, a conclusion that can be applied to much of what Schiffman has written.
"For as long as I can remember, the music that has appealed to me most strongly, and that I feel most deeply, is characterized by a sensation of movement, of progression, of melodic, harmonic, and temporal flow, of strong rhythmic energy and shape. I like a sense of direction and eventual arrival at a destination," Schiffman states on his website.
Even though Schiffman is in his 80th year, he shows no sign of letting up. Last year he premiered song cycle, "Blood Mountain" and completed his second symphony to be performed soon.
For more information on Harold Schiffman, visit http://www.haroldschiffman-composer.com.
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