I was quite saddened to read about the death of the well-known composer, conductor and pianist Lukas Foss. It was just eighteen months ago that I noted the celebration of his 85th birthday. Although his birth and early years were spent in Europe, he has always been considered an architect and proponent of American music. Like many Jewish refugees who were lucky to flee the death threat of Nazism, he embraced America and became a citizen in 1942. After Serge Koussevitzky led the the Boston Symphony in the world premiere of his 1944 cantata The Prairie to great acclaim, he hired Foss as the organization's pianist.
As a composer, Foss continously experimented with new ideas, styles and techniques. He raised the performing level and status of several of the orchestras that he led including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonia, the Kol Israel Orchestra of Jerusalem, and the Milwaukee Symphony. He gave new meaning to the term marathon, by devoting contemporary music concerts and discussions to just one composer or one prominent, geographic area. He accomplished this during his tenure as music director of the Ojai Festival in California and later in New York City with his Meet the Moderns series.
The Library invites you to sample and his Orchestral Works and his piano arrangement of Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid.
