Monday, June 24, 2013

Ferde Grofé Part 2

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MISSISSIPPI SUITE (1925)
André Kostelanetz, Conductor
New York Philharmonic
"BOUND DOWN THE RIVER"
 lithograph with hand coloring, Currier and Ives, 1870
Father of the Waters
Mississippi Suite, Mvt. 1
Huckleberry Finn
Mississippi Suite, Mvt. 2

Mardi Gras
Mississippi Suite, Mvt. 4
William T. Stromberg, Conductor
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
MARDI GRAS ARRANGEMENT

Grofe conducts a 3 1/2 minute arrangement of his own work.
The central section, here called 'Southland,' later became
famous as the pop tune 'Daybreak,' recorded by
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DEATH VALLEY SUITE (1949)

Funeral Mountains
Death Valley Suite, Movt. I
Funeral Mountains
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/28040882

1849er Emigrant Train
Death Valley Suite, Movt. II
Capitol Symphony Orchestra
Death Valley Dunes
http://www.photos.creativeuncut.com/death-valley.html
Death Valley Centennial Premiere
http://www.ferde-grofe.net/Band%20music.html
http://www.ferde-grofe.net/images/Death_Valley_Centennial_Program_Inside.jpg
Funeral Mountains
'49er Emigrant Train
Desert Water Hole
Sand Storm
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HUDSON RIVER SUITE (1955)
William T. Stromberg, Conductor
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH4zLXc8yXI

The River
Hudson River Suite, Movt. I
Winslow Homer:  Hudson River
Henry Hudson

Hudson River Suite, Movt. II
Rip Van Winkle
Hudson River Suite, Movt. III
Rip Van Winkle, 1829

Albany Night Boat
Hudson River Suite, Movt. IV
Currier and Ives

New York
Hudson River Suite, Movt. V
New York: Portrait of a City (Mulberry Street)
http://pdnphotooftheday.com/2010/10/6902

http://www.albanyinstitute.org/building-the-erie-canal.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/steamboat-on-the-hudson-river-chris-lord.html
Henry Hudson
Rip Van Winkle
Albany Night Boat
New York!
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NIAGARA FALLS SUITE (1960-61)
William T. Stromberg, Conductor
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Father of the Waters
Niagra Falls Suite, Movt. I

Devil's Hole Massacre
Niagra Falls Suite, Movt. II

Honeymooners
Niagra Falls Suite, Movt. III
Power of Niagara
Niagra Falls Suite, Movt. IV
Niagara Falls by Church

Niagara Falls by Albert Bierstadt
Church: Niagara Falls
American painter Thomas Hart Benton depicts Father Louis Hennepin
 and a group of Native Americans viewing Niagara Falls during the
 priest’s 17th century expedition in the New World.
Among Grofe's last major works was a
commission from the New York State
Power Authority, to commemorate the
opening of the largest power plant at
Niagara Falls, the Roben Moses Power
Plant, on the l0th of February 1961, Ferde
Grofe was there to conduct the Buffalo
Philharmonic in the first performance
of his Niagara Falls Suite.

The four-movement suite begins with The
Thunder of the Waters, a tone-painting
tinged with Indian motifs, depicting the
majesty of the cascading water. Devil's
Hole Massacre recalls the ambush by
Indians on 14th September 1763 of a
British train of 25 wagons. Only eight
out of around 360 British escaped.
The Cave of the Evil Spirits at the Devil's Hole Ravine
http://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/history-item.php?entry_id=1267&current_category_id=151


The romantic third movement of the suite
is The Honeymooners, a waltz-like section
that includes the faint sound of wedding
bells, a reminder of the popularity of Niagara
Falls as a place for honeymooners or
Hollywood lovers.
Honeymoon at Niagara Falls
The finale, Power of Niagara (1961), in
Grofe's finest Hollywood style, shows a
bustling hydro-electric plant. With a
triumphantly patriotic middle section, the
music suggests a factory whistle and a
crowd of workers busily producing
electricity to bring comfort and
prosperity to a new generation.
Niagara Power Project
http://www.nypa.gov/facilities/niagara.htm
The suite, crafted by
a master orchestrator, offers a vivid
depiction of one of America's most
magnificent sights.

Thunder of the Waters
Devil's Hole Massacre
Honeymooners
Power of Niagara
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VALLEY OF THE SUN SUITE (1957)

Valley of Ditches
Valley of the Sun Suite, Movt. I

The Dam Builders
Valley of the Sun Suite, Movt. II
Dam Builders
Men and equipment place the cornerstone on the ground, laying the foundation of Roosevelt Dam and growth in the Salt River Valley.
https://www.srpnet.com/gallery/trd/1900.aspx

Masque of the Yellow Moon
Valley of the Sun Suite, Movt. III
Yellow Moon
http://versiscape-lifesentences.blogspot.com/2011/04/yellow-moon.html

Grofe produced Valley of the Sun Suite
at the request of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and the Honorable Howard Pyle,
former Governor of Arizona, for the celebration
of Reclamation's Golden Jubilee in 1952.
U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater speaks at the dam's Golden Jubilee in 1961
http://arizonaexperience.org/remember/theodore-roosevelt-dam-century-power

Valley of the Sun Suite is the first and
only musical story of the miracle of reclamation
and is basically the story of the Salt River Project,
Salt River Project: Roosevelt Dam, Arizona
the nation's first multi-purpose
reclamation project, which coupled the
generation of electricity with a vast water
storage system to provide a firm foundation
for the burgeoning metropolis the
Salt River Valley supports today.

More than a half century ago drought-ridden
Salt Valley farmers banded together to organize
the Project under the authorization of the
National Reclamation Act which the late
Theodore Roosevelt signed into law in 1902.
Hydro-electric power generated at Roosevelt
Dam was sold to the Gila County copper mines
and to power users in the Valley with the
resultant revenue being used to assure the
Valley of a constant water supply.
https://soundcloud.com/kevin-tam-2/valley-of-the-sun-2-mvts
The Dam Builders
Masque of the Yellow Moon
Reclamation's Golden Jubilee
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MINSTREL MAN (1944)
TO VIEW THE MOVIE IN ORDER TO HEAR  THE MUSIC
CLICK ON THIS LINK:
https://archive.org/details/MinstrelMan
His score for Minstrel Man received an
Oscar Nomination for Best Music and
Scoring of a Musical Picture in 1945.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_Man_(1944_film)
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Movie Theme


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CHRISTMAS EVE SUITE (1934)

Barron Smith at the
John Wanamaker Organ, Philadelphia
Hear it at:

Julaftonen (Christmas Eve)
a watercolor painted 1904–05 by Carl Larsson (1853–1919)
http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/74/Julaftonen_av_Carl_Larsson_1904.jpg
MEDLEY
Joyous Christmas Spirit
Sleigh Bells Through the Snow (Jingle Bells)
Church Bells Ringing
Christmas Eve Church Service (Hark the Herald Angels Sing)
Silent Night
Santa Claus Coming in the Distance
Going Down the Chimney, Depositing Toys, Up the Chimney and Off Again
Christmas Morning
Children Playing with Toys
Church Bells Ringing
O Come All Ye Faithful
Currier and Ives: Sleigh Bells Through the Snow
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SAN FRANCISCO SUITE
http://www.ferde-grofe.net/scores/San_Francisco_Preview.pdf

The Gold Rush
San Francisco Suite, Movt. I
https://app.box.com/s/x87mqj36rd2x1f7vrotc

Bohemian Nights
San Francisco Suite, Movt. II
https://app.box.com/s/kduilbxxxygi434ea9ph


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBppeSagQM8

The Mauve Decade
San Francisco Suite, Movt. III
https://app.box.com/s/stjx6jrky2bf1jboovvy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Lh8QHmHFY

1906 to 1960
San Francisco Suite, Movt. IV
https://app.box.com/s/tylpu4nn0q9j0zvt0z8f

Bohemian Nights
The Mauve Decade
1906-1960
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TRICK OR TREAT
(HALLOWEEN FANTASY FOR PIZZICATO STRINGS)
Andre Kostelanetz, Conductor

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METROPOLIS:
A BLUE FANTASY (1928)
Beau Hunks, Performers
An extended tone poem for orchestra, piano, and male trio,
Grofe attempts to encapsulate the feeling of New York in the 1920's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKOqkPlpS0
METROPOLIS:
A BLUE FANTASY (1928)
Part 1
Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELKLbrcxoeA

METROPOLIS:
A BLUE FANTASY (1928)
Part 2
Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL1HTJZ1o-Y
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ODE TO THE
This is a 1932 recording set to set to footage
from a 2004 History Channel docudrama on
 the War of 1812 (it is a review-draft)
Dawn's Early Light

This is a musical setting of the battle
 that inspired Francis Scott Key to
 write the poem that became
"The Star Spangled Banner."
http://tapsbugler.com/ode-to-the-star-spangled-banner/
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LINKS