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I recently bought virgil Thomson's The plow that broke the plains and the river and enjoying them immenselly. Beautiful Americana! Any thoughts? Like you say, beautiful Americana and essential stuff. The two recordings of LOUISIANA STORY are worth investigating too, if you haven't heard them... - James.
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Americana is the operative word. He did a lot to pave the way for Copland, Gershwin, Harris, etc. He was probably at least as well known in his day as a wity, ascerbic music critic, whose reviews and essays are now available in book form. (He was one of several critics of the day who was notoriously dismissive of PORGY AND BESS.) Enjoy exploring his film scores and concert works.
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So glad you all posted on this thread. I've not listened to any Virgil Thomson in ever so long, and have just found a goodly selection of his works on Spotify. That will be a nice change.
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I return to Thomson's work every couple of years and still enjoy it. I particularly enjoy his "Symphony on a Hymn Tune," one of his earliest works. I highly recommend his autobiography which is especially effective at capturing the flavor of his years in Paris, where he studied with the legendary Nadia Boulanger.
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