Annual Concert
The annual Alec Wilder Celebration in New York City will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, March 11th at Symphony Space, 95th Street and Broadway.
As part of the program, Alice in Wonderland and Wilder songs with new lyrics by William Engvick will be heard.
Tickets may be purchased at the door.
Letters I Never Mailed Revisited
A new annotated edition of Wilder's only autobiographical work, Letters I Never Mailed, was published in November by University of Rochester Press. The original 1975 edition has been out of print for over 20 years. In creating a puzzle, while telling the story of his personal life, most of Wilder's "letters" were addressed to only the first names of friends and people that he knew in the literary and musical world.
"When University of Rochester Press came to me with this project, we established two goals," relates editor David Demsey. "We wanted to keep Wilder's text completely intact. But we also wanted to 'decode' the original by providing the identities of the addressees, largely unknown to many of the readers of the first edition."
Besides an appendix providing an annotated addressee list, the new edition includes a forward by Marian McPartland, an introductory biographical essay by Demsey, a selected Wilder discography, bibliography, and compositions list, together with photographs by Louis Ouzer.
The book can be ordered directly from amazon.com or through the publishers:
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620
585-275-0419
www.boydell.co.uk/sous.htm
In the latter case, we are pleased to note that the publishers have offered a 25% discount from the $29.95 list price to the Friends of Alec Wilder, in mentioning the reference code $05044.
Swarthmore Airs
Too late to be included in the Newsletter last year was any announcement of the concert at Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia, in which all four of Alec Wilder's Airs for Solo Instrument (oboe, bassoon, English horn, and flute) and Strings were heard -- the stellar soloists: Richard Woodhams, Daniel Matsukawa, Dorothy Freeman, and Christina Jennings. These are the pieces originally conducted by Frank Sinatra for Columbia Records.
Wilder's pieces, with the Orchestra 2001 conducted by James Freeman, and as appearing in an upcoming recording, shared the late January 2005 program with a group of Mahler, Debussy, and Balcom songs, sung by the celebrated American soprano, Dawn Upshaw. It was "a double winner" exclaimed Philadelphia Daily News reporter Tom Dinardo.
"APS" Sequel
Vol. 15 of the Newsletter announced the plans for publication of a "kind of sequel" to Alec Wilder's definitive study, American Popular Song, 1900-1950.
Indeed, dedicated "In memory of Alec Wilder," David Jenness and Don Velsey have authored Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century,1950-2000, newly published by Routledge.
Wilder's songs are given a considerable coverage in a chapter titled "Indian Summer of the Classic Popular Song." About thirty Wilder songs are discussed (some analyzed quite fully). The authors' enthusiastic treatment of Wilder's music is matched by a fine appreciation for William Engvick's lyrics.
Addressing the question: Are the post-1950 songs as memorable as those that came before? -- the authors give considerable evidence that the tradition has not died away. And in so doing, they provide a much-needed contribution to the literature of American popular song.
AWML
Join the Alec Wilder Mailing List, an internet email forum for discussing the life and work of the composer:
awilder@brandxnet.com
Recent Wilder Performances
New CDs and Reissues
New, reissued or recently discovered CDs containing music of Alec Wilder include the following:
Publishing News
The Richmond Organization owns and publishes Wilder's popular songs, show music and a number of his concert pieces. Inquiries as to the purchase of such items should be addressed to Judy Bell:
The Richmond Organization
266 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 212-594-9795
Fax: 212-594-9782
Ms. Bell notes that Wilder's Woodwind Quintets # 2, 11 and 12 are newly available, as are Octets # 17, 21, 27, and "Three Vignettes for Trombone."
Individuals interested in rental/purchase of any of the other Wilder scores, as found in the G. Schirmer catalogue (scores formerly held by Shawnee Press), should contact:
G. Schirmer Inc.
Rental/Performance Dept.
P.O. Box 572
Chester, NY 10918
Tel: 845-469-4688
Fax: 845-469-7544
The Newsletter of the Friends of Alec Wilder
Published annually in Oakland, California.
Editor: Ronald Prather
If you would like to be placed on the mailing list for this newsletter, free of charge, please write or call:
Ronald Prather
78 Gleneden Ave.
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 601-7627
email: rprather@brandxnet.com
FRIENDS OF ALEC WILDER
The Friends of Alec Wilder is an organization dedicated to perpetuating the memory and life's work of American composer Alec Wilder. Its membership presents annual Wilder concerts and other events involving the composer's work. For information concerning the Friends of Alec Wilder organization, please contact Tom Hampson at (585) 442-6941.