More on Moran
Synopsis
Today\u2019s date marks the birthday in 1937 of American composer Robert Moran. A native of Denver, he studied in Berkley with Darius Milhaud and Luciano Berio and in Vienna with Hans Apostel, a pupil of Schoenberg and Berg.
It was in Vienna that Moran overheard an unfamiliar waltz and was surprised to learn that Austrian composers were still writing them. Intrigued, he wrote one himself and asked 24 other contemporary composers to write more for The Waltz Project, a collection recorded as a Nonesuch LP in 1980 and later choreographed by the New York City Ballet.
Moran\u2019s catalog of works includes the choral setting Winni Ille Pu (a classical Latin translation of Winnie the Pooh) and Lunchbag Opera, scored for performers hidden in adult-size brown lunch bags, each armed with toy noise-makers to be played while strolling through \u2014 according to Moran\u2019s instructions \u2014 \u201cany important financial district or banking center at lunch time.\u201d
One of Moran\u2019s large-scale works, The Game of the Antichrist from 2012, is based on a medieval mystery play from Bavaria. It\u2019s scored for children\u2019s chorus, adult vocalists, organ and a small ensemble that includes an alpine horn and cocktail bar piano.
Music Played in Today's Program
Robert Moran (b. 1937) Waltz in Memoriam Maurice Ravel; Yvar Mikhashoff, p. Nonesuch LP D-79011 (out of print)
Robert Moran (b. 1937) Finale: Banishment of the Antichrist, from Game of the Antichrist Children\u2019s Chorus of Gemeinde Vaterstetten; Vocal Ensemble Chrismos; Alexander Hermann, cond. Innova CD 251