The Disposable Musicologist

                        Source: Wikimedia Commons                  Every summer, football fields across the United States fill up with young people playing brass and percussion instruments and spinning flags, sabers, rifles, and other equipment. And though it has transformed quite a bit over the past forty years, the drum and bugle corps activity remains a focal point for many music education programs in the country. Musical tastes have changed in the short history of Drum Corps International (DCI), which began sponsoring competitive shows in 1972. Popular music has been a strong source of show material, and corps today find new ways of bringing old standards as well as new songs to life as part of their shows. But classical music continues to be a key to many corps performances. From obscure works to beloved favorites, the 2018 season should offer a little something for ...

There’s no doubt that Serge Koussevitzky left an indelible impression upon music of the twentieth century. In his twenty-five years as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he commissioned and led a host of works that have become modern classics. During his tenure with the BSO, he brought Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Hindemith’s lesser-known Konzertmusik into the world. And with the Koussevitzky Foundation, which the conductor founded in 1942, he commissioned Samuel Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard and Copland’s Symphony No. 3. The Koussevitzky Foundation also brought to life Arnold Schoenberg’s Survivor from Warsaw (though the BSO did not premiere this work) , Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 5, Walter Piston’s Symphony No. 3, and Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 7, among others. Some of these works go unheard today. One such Koussevitzky commission that has fallen into the dustbin of history is Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 2, which the conductor led in its world premiere with...