Some the greatest music by an American
5
By golaud
If you've never heard of Walter Piston, don't feel bad. His reputation has suffered because of his academic credentials: he taught composition at Harvard and wrote two of the most influential music textbooks of all time, therefore, according to every hack music critic without an original thought in his head, Piston must be an "academic" composer, right? You read that and you guess that his music must be dry, dusty, by-the-book, and you pass poor Walter by.
Well, guess again. As this collection proves, Piston's music is amazing. By turns melodic, powerful, witty, violent, romantic, full of life, and as American as a county fair. The contrasts are shocking -- a brooding and dramatic meditation is suddenly interrupted by a herky-jerky band of street musicians; a surging wartime finale drops its violent facade to reveal a limpid pastoral scene. Piston was incapable of writing dull music.
