Three Composers and Their Romantic Passions
Simon Sargon, Professor of Composition at Southern Methodist University, will give a two part lecture at the Nantucket Atheneum on three famous musical male composers and the women they loved. The free lectures will be held on Saturday, July 12 at 8 pm and Sunday, July 13 at 3 pm in the Atheneum’s Great Hall, 1 India Street. The event is free, but a ticket is required. Pick one up online at www.nantucketatheneum.org or at the Atheneum Box Office, 1 India Street.
Frederick Chopin is, in Sargon’s opinion, the greatest composer of music for the piano. Chopin had a seven-year relationship with the writer George Sand, the quintessential free spirit of her time. Johannes Brahms had a fascinating 50-year relationship with Clara Schumann, the first great female pianist of the 19th century. And, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who was the first American composer to incorporate the fresh, new rhythms and harmonies of the New World, became involved with Ada Clare, one of the most talked-about American actresses of the 19th century.
Sargon’s lectures will be conversations from the keyboard, as he both talks about and plays musical examples from his chosen subjects. The program will examine the ways that these fascinating relationships influenced the music of these great composers.
Sargon holds degrees from Brandeis University and the Juilliard School. Prior to his appointment at SMU, Sargon taught at Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, and served as Head of the Voice Department at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. As Director of Music at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas for over 25 years he led one of the most distinguished programs of Jewish music in America.
Sargon enjoys wide recognition as a composer, pianist, and lecturer on music, and his compositions have been performed both nationally and internationally. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has premiered three of his works to critical acclaim, and numerous singers, instrumental soloists, choral groups, and chamber music ensembles have performed his compositions at concert halls and universities across America.
The Texas Music Teachers Association named Sargon its Commissioned Composer in l994 and then for a second time in 2003. He was invited to perform his commissioned composition, a Trio for oboe, horn and piano in Melbourne, Australia during the summer of 2004. Other notable commissions include the he Meadows Foundation, Yale University, Susquehanna University and the Dallas Holocaust Society. Sargon has received the Annual Award of Recognition from ASCAP (1991–present); and was a Distinguished Teacher Award Nominee at SMU (2003). He was inducted as an Honorary Member of the American Conference of Cantors (2003), named a Finalist in the National Opera Association Competition (1997); and awarded First Prize in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition (1993).
Sargon’s works are published by Boosey and Hawkes, Southern Music, Hal Leonard, Transcontinental Music, and Lawson-Gould. His work as both composer and pianist may be heard on the New World, Ongaku and Crystal labels. The Gasparo label has devoted three CD’s exclusively to his compositions. Sargon is listed in Baker’s Biography of Musicians (7th edition) and the International Who’s in Who in Music (llth edition).
