(From the liner notes): Ferde Grofe, composer of such well known works as the GRAND CANYON SUITE, MISSISSIPPI SUITE and the HUDSON RIVER SUITE, produced VALLEY OF THE SUN SUITE at the request of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Honorable Howard Pyle, former Governor of Arizona, for the celebration of Reclamation's Golden Jubilee in 1952.
VALLEY OF THE SUN SUITE is the first and only musical story of the miracle of reclamation, and is basically the story of the SALT RIVER PROJECT, the nation's first multi-purpose reclamation project, which coupled the generation of electricity with a vast water storage system to provide a firm foundation for the burgeoning metropolis the Salt River Valley supports today.
More than a half century ago drought-ridden Salt Valley farmers banded together to organized the Project under the authorization of the National Reclamation Act which the late Theodore Roosevelt signed into law in 1902. Hydro electric power generated at Roosevelt Dam was sold to the Gila County copper mines and to power users in the Valley with the resultant revenue being used to assure the Valley of a constant water supply.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the 1952 premiere of the Valley of the Sun Suite, as conducted by Grofe and performed by the Arizona State College (Tempe) Symphonic Orchestra. The pieces opens in a beautifully moody manner with Valley of Ditches, employs themes from the composer's Rocketship X-M soundtrack in The Dam Builders, provides delightful dance music for the Masque of the Yellow Moon, and closes with the gorgeous Reclamation's Golden Jubilee (this blogger's favorite movement).
Today's offering is about as won't-hear-anyplace-else as it gets. To the suite: Valley of the Sun Suite
PLAYLIST
VALLEY OF THE SUN SUITE (Ferde Grofe)
1. VALLEY OF DITCHES
2. THE DAM BUILDERS
3. MASQUE OF THE YELLOW MOON
4. RECLAMATION'S GOLDEN JUBILEE
Arizona State College (Tempe) Symphonic Orchestra Conducted by Ferde Grofe.
Recorded by Arizona Recoding Productions, Phoenix.
(Canyon ARP 249)
Lee
17 comments:
Lee...thanks for posting this. Grofe passed on, in 1972...so he lived about 20 years after. It would be nice to find some other "less heard" works by him. I remember, when I used to get the free Schwann LP catalog (about 1/4 inch thick), there was a piece by him called "Atlantic Crossing", for chorus and orchestra. Just wondered if you had ever seen the LP? I have quite a collection of LPs, myself. I even have "The Grand Canyon Suite", conducted by Toscanini...whom, I think, premiered the work.
Gil
Actually, Paul Whiteman premiered the suite in 1931. It was scored for Whiteman's concert orchestra. Around 1940, Andre Kostelanetz recorded the expanded orchestration. Toscanini helped make the work famous when he first broadcast it in 1943 and 1945. (He recorded it in the latter year.)
I used to have Atlantic Crossing in its fake-stereo Everest edition, but no longer. It's not much, musically. NAXOS has two budget-priced CDs of Grofe which include the Niagara Falls, Death Valley, Hollywood, and Hudson River suites. Grofe's Tabloid suite is available on a (I believe) Dutch CD, as are his pieces Broadway By Night and Trylon and Perisphere.
Also available is a 1958 Grofe piece called Gallodoro's Serenade on a CD featuring the concert-orch. arrangements (for Whiteman) of the Grand Canyon and Mississippi suites, plus Gershwin's Concerto in F as arranged by Grofe.
A so-so Grofe piano concerto has been reissued on the Everest label (or whoever owns their masters).
Lee...doesn't the third movement "Masque Of The Yellow Moon" remind you a bit of Aaron Copland? :-). The melody also sounds somewhat like the "Polka" from Schwanda the Bagpiper.
I picked up an old LP, at a thrift shop, which contains Grofe's "Hudson River Suite" (conducted by Kostalanetz). It also contains a work written by the King of Cambodia (Sianouk?), called "The Cambodian Suite". The ASU concert band played this, at one time, when I was a member (back in the 1950s). I think the king was an amateur saxophone player, as well as composer of this work. Maybe you remember seeing the LP. I was lucky to find it, since I had been looking for it for some time.
Gil
Sweet! More Grofe! Thank you!
Cory,
My pleasure! I paid fairly serious (eBay) dough for this, and I never regretted it. And I speak as one who prides himself on being cheap. (Er, inexpensive?)
Gil,
Yes, I thought about Copland, too!
I have the Kostelanetz LP, but it's been a while since I listened to the non-Grofe pieces. I love "Hudson River"--it's elegant and deceptively light. There's more going on than a first listen reveals, imo. TIME magazine poked fun at it and one of the important audio magazines (Hi Fidelity, I think) sarcastically praised it as a good audio test record. Ah, snobbery.
The "Rip Van Winkle" movement dates back to the 1930s, I'm almost sure. For some reason, it sat around for a couple decades before finding its way into a suite.
Lee...speaking of "unusual pieces", I remember one piece our band did, back then...it was called "Auto Accident". At the end, someone has to break a whole sheet of plate glass. I can't remember who composed the work...but it was like "days of John Cage" :-)
Gil
Lee, thanks so much for posting this. I've had the chance to listen now, and I really like this suite (even if he did plagiarize part of it from himself). As always, I really admire not just your appreciation for this music, but your willingness to share it -- and your knowledge of it -- with us.
I don't suppose you have Grofé's "Symphony in Steel," do you? Or "Virginia City"? Now *that* would really surprise me! I'm surprised enough that anyone has a recording of this suite.
Anyway, thanks again, and continued appreciation from Illinois!
No, don't have those, though I'd sell the farm to get my paws on them. On eBay, some transcription discs showed up which contained movements from Grofe's "Wheels" suite, but the bidding was high. AND I have nothing that plays 16" discs.
Oh, and "Valley of Enchantment" showed up on 'Bay, too, but the dealer wanted big bucks, as in too big.
Glad you enjoyed!
In Spring 1949' I sang bass in the world premier of Grofe's "Of the Farm" which Phillips University of Enid Oklahoma had commissioned for its Tri-state Music Festival. A suite of maybe 6 pieces describing life from sunup to sundown on a farm -- even sounds of pigs by the trombones! Scored for band and chorus. Conducted by Grofe.
I have found no later mention of it anyplace.
Does anyone other than me know of it?
At the final rehearsal, Grofe asked for a pause just before the final words, done fortissimo: "Of the farm!". I was not paying attention and sang out in the grand pause. He glared at me and we repeated the ending as he wanted it. He paused. Then said, " Let's try it without a pause.". We did. Grofe said, That is the way we will do it."
See the reason for my conceit? Or was I the reason the suite never again was played?
Keith
Ha! We'll never know.
Thanks for sharing that story! Very cool, the way you played co-composer!
I've never heard of "Of the Farm." Closest to it would be 1935's "A Day At (or On) the Farm."
Let me ask Grofe expert Kevin Tam. Maybe he knows something....
Lee
Keith,
Here's a blog entry about Grofe and Phillips Univ.: http://grannyglee.blog.com/2010/08/01/music-music-music/
Also, at the Grofe page at the Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music website, they list this work:
Festiviana, band; or piano (1949) [dedicated to Phillips University Band] [sometimes listed as composed in "1908"]
A companion piece?
I would just like to say a big thank you for uploading the music;
"Valley of the Sun Suite",
"World's Fair Suite",
"Kentucky Derby Suite",
as well as the shorter pieces. I have been a enthusiast of Grofe's music since 1990 and have a large collection of his well known works, most of which were purchased about 20 years ago and I thought I had reached the end of the line with regards to material. My pleasure finding the above suites, was enormous.I would also love to get my paws on;
"Symphony in Steel",
"A Day on the Farm",
"Kilarney - An Irish Fantasy",
"Lincoln's Gettysberg Address",
"Trans Atlantic Suite",
"New England Suite", and especially, "San Francisco Suite".
I have just found that the "N-E-W-S Suite" and "Valley of Enchantment Suite" (both 1958) exist on a master LP. The movements in "Valley of Enchantment" are;
(1) Great Divide (10m23s)
(2) Gunnison Valley (8m53s)
(3) Black Canyon (8m01s).
The URL is http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34681599#
I hope you find this information useful.
Hi,
I have just remembered the names of the movements in Grofe's 1961 "San Francisco Suite".
(1) Gold Rush
(2) Bohemian Nights
(3) Mauve Decade
(4) San Francisco 1906
These were found in a music reference book and noted down almost 20 years ago. I have no information about any recording of this work - but one can always hope...
Apparently the final movement has a seismic effect to simulate the 1906 earthquake.
Very familiar with Grofe's work, and you can hear the "original" version of some of the music on my label's just-released ROCKETSHIP X-M, the first authorized release of this superb score:
http://www.mmmrecordings.com/Rocketship_X-M/rocketship_x-m.html
I fell in love with the music of Ferde Grofe when I first saw ROCKETSHIP X-M in 1950. This has led, over the years, to my meeting Al Glasser, the orchestrator and conductor of RX-M, and Ferde Grofe, Jr. I almost got to visit the master in his home, but he was ill the day we were set to meet him. Be sure get the new release of the ROCKETSHIP X-M score by Monstrous Movie Music. It's a fine transfer from the Starlog LP release, with extensive booklet notes, as only MMM does. Florida State University has Grofe's complete collection of recordings of his works. You might try contacting the College of Music there to see if they can dupe any for you. Through FSU, I have Valley of Enchantment, Symphony in Steel, Valley of the Sun, Hawaii Suite, Wheels Suite, Down on the Farm, and Ode to the Star Spangled Banner. I'm glad I found this blog and look forward to some good discussions.
Is the Valley of Enchantment CD release any good? My recording is played by a group of high school players, and leaves a lot to be desired. This composition uses a lot of themes from RX-M.
Another good score by Ferde is the film, THE RETURN OF JESSE JAMES. The film is available from Kit Parker Films.
Thanks, David. Nice to see "XM" available again! I'll mention it in my next blog post.
Irv,
Many thanks for the FSU information. Unfortunately, I don't have Valley of Enchantment in any form--feel free to share your version! Interesting that "Valley," like this "Valley," recycles some XM themes. You might know that XM, in turn, recycles material from Symphony in Steel. Also fun are the World's Fair Suite and Tabloid motives that show up in the Return of Jesse James. Elsewhere at my blog, I put together a "suite" from my cheap DVD copy of that movie (I don't think mine is the Kit Parker Films ed.). Keep dropping by!
Nice to read your comments, Lee. Wow! Somebody else knows about THE RETURN OF JESSE JAMES score. I think the theme for Susan Younger in that picture is very pretty. I hear the motive from TABLOID in the film, but haven't heard a theme from WORLD'S FAIR SUITE, which was composed over 10 years later. Maybe you can enlighten me about this. I have about three cues from JESSE JAMES on tape, which Al Glasser made for me. I wish I had gotten the whole score. Would you contact me at ilipscomb@cfl.rr.com, and let's have some more discussions.
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