Duet with the Past

A Composer's Memoir

De: Daron Hagen, Bernard Jacobson - foreword

Narrado por: Daron Hagen

Composer, conductor and operatic polymath Daron Hagen has written five symphonies, a dozen concertos, 13 operas, reams of chamber music and more than 350 art songs. His intimate, unsparing memoir chronicles his life, from his haunted childhood in Wisconsin to the upper echelons of the music world in New York and Europe. Hagen’s vivid anecdotes about his many collaborators, friends and mentors—including Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Gian Carlo Menotti, Paul Muldoon, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson and Gore Vidal—counterpoint a cautionary tale of the sacrifices necessary to succeed in the brutally unforgiving business of classical music.

©2019 McFarland (P)2025 McFarland

An Artist in Full

Duet With the Past is a book I was very eager to read because (1) I am a classical music enthusiast from adolescence (2) I have always had a strong attraction for American classical music from the mid-20th Century. The composer was placed early under the guidance of David Diamond, Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, and Lukas Foss, if not, in the instance of Foss and Bernstein, as designated teachers at least as close compositional advisors and friends. His recollections of Bernstein are particularly positive and fascinating. HIs first teacher was the composer, Ned Rorem, who gave him a strong foundation in classical song composition that number over 300 in his collected works. An advantage to listening to the author read his book is the ease with which one can shift from his text narration to his outstanding website to hear a great many of his works included therein. In addition to song cycles, he composed many operas, symphonies, concerti, chamber works, and, recently two opera-films that are available on DVD or streaming: Orson Rehearsed and 9/10: Love Before the Fall. The composer writes beautifully and shares the challenges and triumphs of his fascinating life poignantly and memorably. I did not want it to end and, fortunately, he is currently reaching new creative heights as a cultural force - highest recommendation.