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Celebrating Anderson, from Pops to classical
Among the strong offerings on TV is a documentary on Leroy Anderson of Sleigh Ride fame.
By JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2000
Now's the time of year when Leroy Anderson is remembered because he wrote Sleigh Ride, but a documentary on PBS makes the case that he was more than just a tunesmith.
"In a way he relates to Rimsky-Korsakov because both of them had band backgrounds," said Skitch Henderson, a longtime friend and colleague of Anderson, who got his professional start as bandmaster at Harvard in the 1930s.
"Rimsky-Korsakov spent all his early life as a band arranger and conductor for military bands in Russia. The sound of Rimsky-Korsakov really comes from the sound of the woodwinds. With Leroy, I like to go back to his pieces because of the way they're constructed. Even an orchestra that is not up to snuff in all sections sounds good when they play his music because everything lays just right for the players."
Anderson, who died in 1975, first made his mark doing arrangements for the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler. "He did so much to make it possible for them to play so-called popular music in a manner that was acceptable to symphony musicians," said Henderson.
Anderson wrote many light classical pieces that were hits in the 1940s and '50s, including Blue Tango, The Syncopated Clock, Sandpaper Ballet and The Typewriter. He wrote Sleigh Ride during a July heat wave in 1948. He also composed serious works, such as his piano concerto, and an excerpt of it is performed in the documentary by Catherine Wilson, with Henderson conducting.
"The concerto is very well made, but Leroy always wanted to redo it because he felt the second movement didn't justify itself," said Henderson, former pops music director of the Florida Orchestra who returns to Tampa Bay for concerts in February and May.
Once Upon a Sleigh Ride, narrated by Dick Cavett, airs at 4 p.m. Sunday on WEDU-Ch. 3.
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The Boston Pops probably still plays some of Anderson's arrangements in its holiday special, this year featuring country singer Martina McBride, the a cappella group Take 6, humorist Jimmy Tingle and soprano Kelly Kaduce, winner of the Metropolitan Opera's 1999 competition. Conducted by Keith Lockhart, the Pops program ranges from Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring to a selection from Duke Ellington's Nutcracker to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It's on A&E at 10 p.m. Sunday.
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Also on TV, the Franco Zeffirelli production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on WEDU-Ch. 3 and other PBS outlets. Bry Terfel sings the title role, and Renee Fleming is Donna Anna, with James Levine conducting, in a performance videotaped in October.
CULTURE ON TV
Recommended viewing for music lovers
Once Upon a Sleigh Ride, 4 p.m. Sunday on WEDU-Ch. 3.
Holiday at Pops 2000, 10 p.m. Sunday on A&E.
Don Giovanni from the Metropolitan Opera, 8 p.m. Wednesday on WEDU-Ch. 3
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