Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Musical ancestry

Several years ago, my former student Jason Uechi sent me this sequence of composers and their students, connecting me somehow back to Bach.

J.S. Bach > W.F. Bach
W.F. Bach > Sarah Levy
Sarah Levy > Carl Friedrich Zelter
Carl Friedrich Zelter > F. Mendelssohn
F. Mendelssohn > Carl Reinecke
Carl Reinecke > George Whitefield Chadwick
George Whitefield Chadwick > Horatio Parker
Horatio Parker > Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions > Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt > Uncle Davy

Coincidentally, I got the George Whitefield Chadwick (my great great grandteacher) Medal from New England Conservatory when I graduated.

This same composer also proferred an alternate history.

Cherubini > Halevy
Halevy > Saint-Saens
Saint-Saens > Faure
Faure > Boulanger
Boulanger > Marion Bauer
Bauer > Babbitt > Uncle Davy