"Next to Johann Strauss
there was nobody who could do a certain kind of music better
than Anderson. I think he was one of the most completely inventive
composers who ever lived - a wonderful and unique talent."
- Nicolas Slonimsky, author, editor
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| "Leroy Anderson's orchestral miniatures,
including The Syncopated Clock, Sleigh Ride, and Blue Tango
are among the best known American concert music written after Gershwin's
Rhapsody in Blue and Copland's Appalachian Spring."
- Howard Pollack, musicologist, author, "Harvard
Composers"
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"The craftsmanship, the humor, the humanity!"
- Vladimir Spivakov, violinist, conductor
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| "Leroy Anderson is one of the great
American masters of light orchestral music. Though we have performed
his works countless times over the years at the Boston Pops, his music
remains forever as young and fresh as the very first day on which
it was composed."
- John Williams, composer; laureate conductor, Boston Pops
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| "Some have called Gershwin the Johann Strauss, Jr. of American music, but one might argue that the designation sits more comfortably on the shoulders of Leroy Anderson."
- Michael Steinberg, Program Notes, NY Philharmonic
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| "Leroy Anderson epitomizes for our era what such earlier masters as Stephen Foster, Victor Herbert and John Philip Sousa did for their eras - the highest standards of cratsmanship tied to widespread popularity."
- Robert Sherman, WQXR, New York City
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| "Leroy Anderson's music has thrilled millions of Americans and indeed the entire international music world for over sixty years."
- Erich Kunzel, conductor
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| "Leroy Anderson is one of the great bridges of American music, a musician who tore down the wall between the so-called "serious" music and so-called "popular" music. He introduced millions of people to the sounds a symphony orchestra can make painlessly, with consumate taste and an ear for whimsy."
- Richard S. Ginell, music critic
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| "Leroy Anderson had a rare
and remarkable wisdom, unusual among composers in any style. He knew the
precise measure of his own talent. He never failed to polish his creations
to perfection, yet he was never pretentious. The honesty and candor in his
music is what earns it a lasting place in the repertoire, secure where
thousands of imitators have disappeared."
- Andrew Massey, conductor and composer
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| "Sleigh Ride almost certainly holds the distinction of having been recorded by a broader aesthetic range of performers than any other piece in the history of Western music."
- Steve Metcalf, Hartford Courant
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~ ~ ~
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Leroy Anderson's musical achievement is a particularly
American triumph.
Had he not possessed the courage of his convictions,
he might have become a linguist--and a very good one, for he spoke
numerous languages. Had he followed the advice of his Harvard music
professors, he might never have written the works loved today by
millions of people around the world. Instead, with a single-minded
belief in his musical version of the American dream, he created
a style so unique it goes by his name.
In May 1952 a lovely instrumental piece with a sweeping melody
called Blue Tango reached number one on the Hit Parade. Lyrical,
with a driving tango rhythm, the piece captured the spirit of an
era. People whistled Blue Tango on street corners and in
taxi cabs. And of course they danced the night away. Blue Tango
was such a huge hit that when the top songs for the entire year
were compiled, it was second only to a song by Johnnie Ray.
The composer of Blue Tango was Leroy Anderson, a Bostonian
known for his arrangements for the Boston Pops Orchestra. He had
composed the piece just before he was recalled to Army duty for
the Korean War. In 1952, Anderson was able to capture in his music
the optimistic spirit of his times. And not just with Blue Tango.
With piece after piece written over a span of about 20 years, from
the late '30s to the late '50s, he composed melodies and orchestrated
a distinctive sound that people loved to listen to, dance to, and
hum along with. Jazz Pizzicato, Syncopated Clock, Fiddle-Faddle,
The Typewriter, Trumpeter's Lullaby, Bugler's Holiday, and Sleigh
Ride all found a receptive and enthusiastic audience.
Working alone in his Connecticut studio, Anderson composed music
that touched the lives of people thousands of miles from his hilltop
home. In direct, musical language he imbued his pieces with a spirit
that audiences recognized as their own, a human spirit that sprang
from a generous heart. There was beauty in this music. And sadness.
And joy.
The ability to convey such human emotions concisely and musically
defines Anderson's art. Anderson was a player's composer, perhaps
because he played so many instruments himself. Consummately crafted,
Anderson's pieces are as much a delight to perform as they are to
hear.
- Carl Vigeland
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