John Phillip

Dubbed the ‘King of Ragtime’, Scott Joplin (c. 1868-1917) was one of the most important and influential composers at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Texarkana, Texas and grew up in a musical family. At age seven, he discovered a piano in a neighbour’s house and began experimenting with it by ear. His father soon bought a second-hand piano, and by age eleven Joplin’s gifts were the talk of the community.

The Appointment was a 1969 drama starring Omar Sharif as a lonely Italian attorney who romances and weds a beautiful model (Anouk Aimee)—all the while suspecting that she is a highly priced prostitute. Although directed by Sidney Lumet, The Appointment was a troubled production that led to its receiving three fully recorded scores by four composers. FSM's premiere release of the original soundtrack features selections from each—making for a rare and fascinating look at three different approaches for a single film.

Sir Arthur Bliss contributed two staples of the brass band repertoire - Kenilworth and The Belmont Variations, the enduring success of which inspired arrangers to turn to his other compositions, such as Eric Ball’s Four Dances from the ballet Checkmate and Phillip Littlemore’s suite from the film score for Things to Come.

The tone poem Cauchemar, which means "nightmare" in Portuguese, is much a product of its time, similar in tone to contemporaneous works by Schoenberg, Massenet, Stravinsky and Schmitt. This is not surprising since the composer was studying in Europe at the time. Despite the title, there is nothing terribly frightening about the music which has a mood rather somewhere between the Rienzi overture of Wagner and something by Nielsen.

Sir Arthur Bliss contributed two staples of the brass band repertoire - Kenilworth and The Belmont Variations, the enduring success of which inspired arrangers to turn to his other compositions, such as Eric Ball’s Four Dances from the ballet Checkmate and Phillip Littlemore’s suite from the film score for Things to Come.

The 2008 New Year’s Eve gala from Berlin features the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton or Sir Simon Rattle, plus world-class singers Thomas Quasthoff and Pauline Malefane in an outstanding all-American program ranging from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and “An American in Paris” to Copland’s “Old American Songs”.