A tune for Memorial Day? ‘Here’s One,” in fact, four

Editor’s Note: Following is another in a series of stories by Eileen Wingard about CD’s containing music performed by her sister, violin soloist Zina Schiff.

By Eileen Wingard

SAN DIEGO — One of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, after the Civil War, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered. So it is fitting that, in honor of Memorial Day, I write about my sister Zina Schiff’s 1994 4-Tay CD, Here’s One” featuring works by American composers, including “The Deserted Garden,” by African-American composer Florence Price. Inspired by African-American spirituals, the simple beauty of “The Deserted Garden” reflects the somber longing for lost loved ones.

Florence Price (1887-1953), born in Arkansas, had a career as a pianist, organist, music teacher and composer. She died in Chicago, where she had moved with her family in 1927, to escape the Jim Crowism of the South. She was the first African-American woman whose works were performed by a major orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, under Fredrick Stock. Here’s One also includes works by William Grant Still (1895-1978), Lee Hoiby (1926-2011), Henry Cowell (1897-1968), and Aaron Copland (1900-1990).

William Grant Still, known as the Dean of African-American Composers, was a frequent visitor to the Peter Meremblum California Junior Symphony with which Zina performed as a child, growing up in Los Angeles. She remembers his kindness, encouragement and movie-star good looks. Six of his selections begin Here’s One, including “Blues,” from Lenox Avenue, arranged by Louis Kaufman.

Henry Cowell was born in Menlo Park, California, and died in New York City, where he was an adjunct professor of music at Columbia University. Cowell was one of the great musical innovators and a champion of American music. His father was an Irish immigrant, so it is no wonder that the dance movement in his Violin Sonata on this disc is a Jig.

Aaron Copland, a Jewish kid who grew up in Brooklyn, vividly captures the spirit of the Western Plains. His “Hoe-Down,” from the ballet, Rodeo, is a virtuosic romp based on a reel.

The Blues, the Jig and the Hoe-Down represent various immigrant-influenced threads that have contributed to the fabric of American music.
The American Record Guide selected Here’s One as Critics Choice, Best of the Year: “anyone interested in a program that defines American music could hardly do better than this one.”

May we continue, on this Memorial Day, to cherish the contributions of Americans who came to us from all corners of the globe to contribute to our culture and to lay down their lives in defense of our country.

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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts