Henry Kimball Hadley - Symphony No. 4 in D Minor Op. 64 (1911)
Conducted by John McLaughlin Williams with the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra.
 |
| The image of American composer and conductor Henry Hadley (1871–1937) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
II. East - 11:58
III. South - 20:39
IV. West - 27:20
Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 -- 6 September 1937) was an American composer and conductor.
Between 1897 and 1935, Hadley composed five symphonies. Symphony No.4 in D minor, Opus 64 was composed for the Norfolk, Connecticut Festival and was first performed (conducted by the composer) at a meeting of the Litchfield County Choral Union held in the Music Shed on the grounds of Carl Stoeckel's residence at Norfolk on June 6, 1911. Hadley conducted the work many times after that, including at Queen's Hall, London, and at the Worcester Festival in Massachusetts. When Hadley guest conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 7, 1925, he provided a detailed and lengthy program note on the symphony, which is summarized and excerpted below:
"This symphony is a musical portrayal of moods suggesting, first, the frozen North; second the Far East; third, our own Southern ragtime rhythms; and fourth, the spirit of the West of our Pacific Coast. The first movement suggests the extreme North: snow, ice, barren waste, and tempest. The second movement (East) is an Oriental tone-picture, while the third movement (South), a scherzo, contains themes which suggest ragtime syncopations. (This movement, typically American, suggests restless energy.) The, fourth and final movement (West) is big, buoyant, and joyous. At the time of writing this movement, the composer was living in that section of the country, and he knew the spirit. There is an Indian theme, given in the English horn, accompanied by two bassoons and Indian drum. This Indian theme must not, however, be taken as anything but episodical. It must not be forgotten that this 'Western spirit' came originally from the strip of States on the Atlantic Coast, and is an extension rather than a new product. There is a love theme, too (second subject), but the symphony ends triumphantly, the Allegro theme (enlarged) in brass, with brilliant fashion making the close."
