William Kraft
with Vincent Plush
Los Angeles, California
March 5, May 2, 1983
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Side a: p. 1–14
Early life in Chicago--piano lessons in San Diego--family music lessons-- studying with Vera Heifetz--moving to Los Angeles--back to San Diego--piano lessons with Arthur Frazer--switching to drums--jazz interest--hearing Benny Goodman--seeing Count Basie--joining a jazz band as drummer--arranging jazz by age 20--San Diego State College for a year--going to Los Angeles and UCLA-- arranging for Gus Arnheim--starting to hear classical music on the radio--looking at record jackets at the local store--writing a preface for Roy Prendergast--Aaron Copland--1943 and the Air Force--going to Cambridge--writing in the Air Force for dance bands--learning about classical music from Air Force pianist--the tuba and the Double Trio--studying composition with Charles Marsh--describing Boulanger and Hindemith--idolizing Stravinsky- study with Arthur Lange--going to Tanglewood as percussionist--working with Bernstein, Irving Fine and Roman Schultz--finding out about Schoenberg at Tanglewood.
Side b: p. 14–27
attending Brooklyn College--auditioning for Saul Goodman and Moe Goldenberg-- Columbia University--studying with Henry Cowell, Norman Lockwood, Jack Beeson, and Otto Luening--Luening as a teacher and influence--Henry Cowell’s music-- Hymn and Fuguing Tune--reading Hindemith’s Craft of Musical Composition--studying with Henry Brant--hearing Cage performed--organizing the Columbia Chamber Concerts--combining the series with Juilliard students--John Kander’s music--playing jazz in New York--playing with the Met Opera--getting a B.S. from Columbia--deferment from active duty during the Korean conflict--getting married--interviewing for a teaching job at Colgate university--conducting on Broadway--working with Virgil Thomson--new music percussion concerts in New York--contact with Varèse--moving from Dallas to the Los Angeles Philharmonic-- writing percussion quartets for Children’s Concerts--Lawrence Morton--conducting on a chamber music program--The Suite for Percussion--the Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble.
Side c: p. 27–48
Attenting the Chautauqua festival--auditioning in Los Angeles--talking with Benjamin Podemski--Wallenstein’s recommendation leading to job--writing while in Dallas--forming the First Percussion Quartet in Los Angeles--Leo Hamilton, Walt Goodwin, and Forest Clark--Theme and Variations for Percussion Quartet--Stravinsky hearing Kraft’s composition--expanding the repertoire of the Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble--talking with Ernst Krenek--rehearsing the Cantata for Magic America by Ginastera--playing with Mantle Hood at UCLA and the gamelan--exposure to Eastern music and the orient--recording Varèse’s music--Varèse’s influence on Los Angeles--comparing Stravinsky’s and Schoenberg’s influence on Los Angeles--Wallenstein’s demoralization of the Philharmonic--van Beinum taking over as conductor--the lack of American music--guest conductors- Solti getting hired--commissioning the Concerto Grosso--Nonet--Suite for Percussion--Sonata for Violin and Piano--writing specifically for the Monday evening concerts--Three Miniatures for Percussion and Orchestra.
Side d p. 48–68
more on Three Miniatures--Louis Castallucci and introduction to Mills Music--Adolf Weis--Variations on a Folksong--American Carnival Overture--studying the Appalachian Spring of Copland--meeting Copland at the Hollywood Bowl--The French Suite for Solo Percussion--writing music for all percussion--playing l’Histoire du Soldat--Concerto for Four Percussion Soloists and Orchestra--Configutations--using jazz in compositions--Suite for Brass Quartet and The Maltese Falcon--ignorance of music as a young man--trying to study Gershwin or Berlin--comparing symphonic jazz attempts--trying to put jazz music onto paper--Gunther Schuller’s jazz--interest in Boulez and Stockhausen--the Concerto for Four…again--In Memoriam Varèse--Configurations--taking care in the writing of Configurations--“Silent Boughs” for soprano and strings--changing the concept of “Silent Boughs”--setting poems into vocal songs--the Double Trio--buying a piano--George Kerman and specifying a piano for performance--moving to timpanist and assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic--starting to conduct more--becoming conductor of the Philharmonic’s children series.
Side e p. 68–87
Appointment as composer in residence--Guilini consulting about new music-- forming the post of composer in residence--Los Angeles as a new music center-- starting to push new music in the Philharmonic--talking about a marathon concert of new music--forming the Meet the Composer forum--Contextures--Riots–Decade ‘60-- a commission from Zubin Mehta--working on the commissioned piece (Riots)-- using films along with the music--use of a jazz quartet and jazz ideas in Riots--recording the Percussion Concerto and Contextures--looking back at the recording--Graphic--the Kandinsky Variations, Colorations--being exposed as an artist--using a tape recorder for Encounters I, the Soliloquy--moving into film scores--writing for the Chisolms in the style of Copland--writing a National Geographic Special--working with Jack Tiller--writing Bill.
Side f p. 87–107
More on Bill--writing Avalanche and The King of the Bees--Fire and Ice--the Collage pieces--Games--using a tug-of-war motive--”The Shadow Game”--”The Chess Game”--“The Private Game” and “Poker Game”--Collage II--Collage III, Tintinnabulations--dissatisfaction with the commission--changing the intervals of ringing bells--Triangles for percussion and ten instruments--performing Stockhausen’s Zyklus while surrounded by the performers--the Encounters Series-- calling the first work Encounters II for Roger Bobo--working with Bobo--Zubin Mehta commissioning a tuba concerto for three chamber groups and orchestra called Andirivieni--ideas used while moving during a divorce--changing the title to Cornucopia--Encounters II and IV, for trumpet and percussion and trombone and percussion--where ideas come from--Encounters IV for ‘cello and piano--Encounters I for solo percussion--Encounters VI for rototoms--Encounters VII and morse code-- Encounters VII for solo percussion--Encounters IX for saxophone.
Side g p. 107–127
Piano Concerto--finding an idea for the concerto--writing as Brahms did--working with Mona Golabek--proportion rotation--Cadenza I and In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky--Requiescat for electric piano--working with a Fender Rhodes electric piano--The Innocents for four choirs--using American history--troubles with the copying--the Master Chorale falling through--Dream Tunnel for narrator and small orchestra--using music of American composers--mentioning Ombra and Luminescences (retitled Translucences)--talking about The Sublime and the Beautiful--finding ideas in poetry about inspiration--Dialogues and Entertainments for soprano and wind ensemble--concerts in Venice at St. Mark’s--using the antiphony for Dialogues--explaining the morse code in Dialogues--the Solo Piece for Horn for John Cerminaro--associations with Wordsworth.
Side h p. 127–149
Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Chamber Orchestra--expanding the Double Trio into a Double Concerto--American composers who show the American idiom--Double Play and Triple Play--hoping to do an opera and a ballet--new commission by the Consortium of Speculum Musicae of New York, Composers Forum in Washington, and the Contemporary Music Players in San Francisco--writing the Suite for Timpani--returning to Gregorian Chant--looking back at his writing schedule--trying to fit composing in while conducting and playing--receiving music from composers to be performed by his new music ensemble--teaching experience--no regrets on not having been in New York--Gerhard Samuel’s leaving--comparing Los Angeles to New York culturally--new music in California--the progress of new music from Schoenberg on--realizing who you are as a composer--Kraft sounding like Kraft.
William Kraft
with Eva Soltes
Altadina, CA
October 11, l997
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[DAT 1 begins]
Side i pp. 1-18
Composer in Residence for L.A. Philhamonic (1981-85)--founding of and idea behind New Music Group--Meet the Composer program--musical output (1983-85)--the evolution of Music for String Quartet and Percussion from Weavings, and the difficulties involved in writing music for films and television--rewriting works--artistic inspirations for Gallery 83--composing style--trouble with improvisation--premiere of Stravinsky’s The Owl and the Pussycat.
Side j pp. 18-33
Zubin Mehta and the evolution of Concerto for Orchestra (1968) and Contextures II (l986)--jealousy surrounding success of the Philharmonic New Music Group--the recording and premiere of Contextures II--accomplishments--Timpani Concerto--
electronic music--composing Soliloquy--accepting teaching position at Chapman College (1985)--teaching at UCLA, Santa Barbara and CalArts (1988-90)--Corwin Chair at Santa Barbara--influence and importance of jazz.
Side k pp. 33-45
Composing for United Airlines installation (1986)--Cascando--Pierrot Lunaire--Kraft as an American Impressionist--current projects: the evolution of Red Azalea--Where is music going?
[DAT 1 ends]
Side l pp. 45-52
[DAT 2]
Where is music going? (continued)--first performance of Double Trio--conducting versus performing--the meaning of music.
[DAT 2 ends]
AMERICAN MUSIC SERIES 119 m-o
William Kraft
With Eva Soltes
Los Angeles, CA
August 31, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Side m pp. 1-22
Opera Red Azalea--Timpani Concerto--settings from Pierrot Lunaire--revision process--orchestration: Schoenberg and David Raksin--work with professional orchestras--Lou Harrison--work as a percussionist--study in New York City--meeting Lou Harrison in New York--concert at Columbia University--forming the Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble--Harrison's Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra--conductors--his time at UC Santa Barbara--opera Red
Azalea--use of non-Western instruments--how he made the music sound Chinese--"American Impressionism" as a definition of his work--his view of serialism--The Sublime and the Beautiful--jazz.
Side n pp. 22-44
Porgy and Bess--Timpani Concerto--his experience at Tanglewood--love of jazz--first and new Timpani Concerto--Dialogues and Entertainments--praise from Gunther Schuller--Timpani Concerto--more on Dialogues and Entertainments--use of octatonic scale--Brazen--Michael Tilson Thomas as champion of West Coast composers--more on Brazen--Lou Harrison's Organ Concerto--composing habits--progress on Timpani Concerto--discussion of music of Timpani Concerto-"character" of a piece of music--Sur Incises of Boulez--Stephen Paulis--Boulez's
Le Marteau sans Maître--regrets about not studying with Boulanger--student at IRCAM--pieces with Chinese influences: Red Azalea--playing in gamelan orchestras--Encounters 11--legend: The Demise of Suriyodhaya.
Side o pp. 44-63
Toru Takemitsu--Interplay--music as craft or inspiration--politics and his music--Contextures: Riots--Decade 60--Contextures II: The Final Beast--Songs of Flowers, Bells and Death--Requiescat for the Victims of All Wars--war in Iraq--
commissions: IRCAM and for Martha's Vineyard Music Festival--his opera--recording Histoire du Soldat--Stravinsky and Robert Craft--recording
Le Marteau sans Maître--Stravinsky--photographs from performances of music by Kraft and others--Varèse--Thai gongs--Chinese drums.