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Concerto No. 3 for Piano, in B minor
William Wolfram, piano, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor
Edward Collins, composer
Symphony in B minor
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor
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World premiere recordings of this unjustly neglected composer.
It will be interesting to see if the music of Edward Joseph Collins catches on. It should. In the tradition of George Whitefield Chadwick and his fellow Chicago composer Leo Sowerby, this is what the fine American conductor Marin Alsop has to say: "Collins' ability to infuse the European tradition of the era with a distinctly American flavor is very unique." This quotation will give the listener who is not familiar with Collins' music some idea of what to expect. Collins was among those creative musicians considered "regional." Notwithstanding a number of early years spent in Europe and a brief stint as conductor at New York's Century Opera Company, he is recalled primarily as a Chicago musical figure. Despite several large orchestral works, three piano concertos, a large choral piece, numerous works for solo piano, a number of songs, and an opera which won him the respected David Bispham Award, his music - except for some occasional concerts and recordings - has been little performed in the years following his death. This neglect is both unfortunate and unwarranted. While he spent most of his life in Chicago or its environs and knew members of the "Chicago School," he pursued his own direction as a composer. He was born in Joliet, Illinois and was the youngest of nine children all of whom were musical. He studied first in Chicago with Rudolf Ganz and then in Berlin with Max Bruch and Engelbert Humperdinck, among others. He returned to the United States in the fall of 1912 and began to concertize. During 1913/14, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Century Opera Company in New York. In 1914, he traveled once again to Europe where he was engaged as an assistant conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, where his duties also included playing the timpani. In August 1914, the outbreak of hostilities in Europe necessitated his return to America. When the U.S. entered the War, he began as an infantry private, but soon rose to the rank of Lieutenant. When Collins returned to Chicago, he resumed his performing career and married a young voice student named Frieda Mayer whose father was Oscar Mayer, the owner of the Chicago Meat Packing Company that bears his name. Erik Eriksson, Collins' biographer has written: "The music of Edward Joseph Collins deserves closer attention and more frequent performance. Collins was highly original in his organization and employment of ideas, in the flow with which they were assembled, and in the unforced introduction of American idioms to works that were conceived with great seriousness of purpose. With strength of character and courage that must be admired, Collins composed music that also exhibits an endearing capacity to convey genuine and enduring emotion." See also TROY267 for more of Collin's music.Contents:
Edward Collins, composerConcerto No. 3 for Piano, in B minor
William Wolfram, piano, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor
Edward Collins, composer
Symphony in B minor
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor