#ClassicsaDay #NAFTAclassics Week 4
The Classics a Day team once again made NAFTA Classics the theme for July. Two of the three countries in North America have significant holidays in the month — Canada Day (July 1), and Independence Day (July 4).
As always with this theme, I simply alternated between Canadian, American, and Mexican composers. And the process discovered a lot of great classical music north and south of the border.
Here are my #ClassicsaDay posts for the fourth and final week of #NAFTAclassics.
07/26/21 Edward Burlingame Hill (US 1872-1960) Concertino No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra
Hill is best remembered for his pupils — Leonard Bernstein, Elliot Carter, Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thompson. But he was also a composer who brought American influences into his music.
07/27/21 Clarence Lucas (Canada 1866–1947) – Holiday Sketches
Lucas had a rich and varied career; composer, teacher, music proofreader, music magazine editor, transcriber, conductor, music director, and lyricist.
07/28/21 Macedonio Alcalá (Mexico 1831–1869) Dio nunca muere
Alcalá was asked by residents of Tlacolula to write a waltz in honor of the Virgin Mary, their town’s patron. It was an instant hit and is now the unofficial anthem of Oaxaca.
07/29/21 Florence Price (US 1887-1953) Violin Concerto No. 2
Price completed her second violin concerto in 1952, a year before her death. It was discovered in 2009 when renovations were done to her former home.
07/29/21 Healey Willan (Canada 1880-1958) Symphony No. 1 in D minor
Willan is best known for his choral compositions. Of his over 800 works, only two were symphonies. This is his first written in 1936.
