September 04, 2007
While we’re on the subject of Dave Brubeck, I thought I’d share with you some more information about his remarkable career. Despite the fact that Brubeck will be 87 years old on December 6th, 2007, he gave us a stunning performance at the Hollywood Bowl this July 22nd; his career as a recording artist is now in its 61st year. His significance as a composer has been equally remarkable; in addition to compositions with unusual time signatures, such as “Take Five and “Blue Rondo a la Turk (which we mentioned last week), other Brubeck compositions have become jazz standards, such as In Your Own Sweet Way and The Duke (No. 11). In the recording of the former that we’ve linked, which was made in 1994, Brubeck is featured playing with the four of his six children who are also professional musicians: eldest son Darius playing a second piano; youngest son, 6 foot-8 inch Matthew, on cello; Chris (also a master on bass trombone) on electric bass; and Dan on drums. The latter composition, “The Duke, has the distinction of having tone centers in all 12 keys, all within the first eight measures! (Despite this fact, the tune is not in the least pedantic; it is as bright, fluid and melodic as anyone could wish…)
But more importantly, from the standpoint of our discussion, Brubeck throughout his career composed a significant body of “serious concert music, including ballet suites, a string quartet, chamber works, pieces for solo and duo-piano, violin solos, orchestral works and large-scale works for chorus and orchestra. A number of these are religious works; notwithstanding that fact, they still clearly bear the stamp of Brubeck’s jazz sensibility and creativity. For instance, in 1968 “The Light in the Wilderness: An Oratorio for Today was recorded by Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony; we attended its performance in the Washington Cathedral in our nation’s capitol later that year. Other cantatas and oratorios included The Gates of Justice (1969); Truth Is Fallen (1971); La Fiesta de la Posada (a Christmas cantata in Mexican folk style, 1975); “Beloved Son” (1978); “Pange Lingua Variations” (1983); “The Voice of the Holy Spirit – Tongues of Fire (1985); “Upon This Rock (1987); “New Wine (1987); “Lenten Tryptych: Ash Wednesday, Easter, Bless These Ashes (1988); “In Praise of Mary (1989); “Joy in the Morning (1991), “When the Lord Is Pleased, “Earth Is Our Mother (1992), and “Regret (2001). Four of these (“Beloved Son, “Pange Lingua Variations, “The Voice of the Holy Spirit, and “Regret), were recorded on a double-CD entitled Classical Brubeck; featured with Alan Opie and the Dave Brubeck Quartet are the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices, conducted by Russell Gloyd.
Arguably, the most notable of Brubeck’s religious works is a 1996 Mass To Hope! A Celebration that has been performed throughout the English-speaking world, Germany, Russia and Austria.
Other of Brubeck’s classical compositions can be found on CDs entitled Brubeck: Chromatic Fantasy Sonata/Rising Sun; Dave Brubeck: Nocturnes; Dave Brubeck: Songs and Cello, Celli!.
According to the biography posted at Naxosdirect.com, Dave Brubeck is a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University and holds numerous honorary degrees from American, Canadian, English and German universities, including an Honorary Doctorate in Sacred Theology from Fribourg University, Switzerland. He has received national and international recognition, including the National Medal of the Arts presented by President Clinton, A Lifetime Achievement Award from National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Medal, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the year 2000 the National Endowment for the Arts declared him a Jazz Master. His international honors include Austria’s highest award for the Arts, a citation from the French government, and the Bocconi Medal from Italy. The Library of Congress has declared Dave Brubeck a Living Legend. He serves as chairman of The Brubeck Institute established in his honor by his alma mater, the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
2 comments
I am looking for a CD of La Fiesta de la Posada for a friend. Any reader of this blog have one available? thank you.
There is one available on amazon. You should be able to click to it from here.