Synopsis

Today’s date marks the birthday of American composer and educator Gardner Read, who was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1913.

Read studied music at Northwestern University, then at the Eastman School, where his teachers included Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. He also studied with Aaron Copland and Italian modernist composer Ildebrando Pizzetti. Read became a noted teacher himself and held posts in St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland and Boston. His Symphony No. 1 was premiered by John Barbirolli and won first prize at the New York Philharmonic Society's American Composers' Contest. He wrote four symphonies in all, as well as other orchestral, choral and chamber works and a significant body of works for or with pipe organ.

In 1978, musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky wrote: “In American music, the name of Gardner Read is synonymous with the best traditions of modern classicism and inspired romanticism. ... To the musical analyst, it presents a technical interest as well, for in his use of the multicolored palette of modern instrumentation, Gardner Read offers fascinating examples of organized sonorities. The substance of his compositions is infinitely varied; he is a true Renaissance man, working in many different genres without prejudice and achieving his objectives with impeccable taste.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Gardner Read (1913-2005): Allegro scherzando, from Symphony No. 4 (Cleveland Orchestra; Lorin Maazel, cond.) New World 742