Obscure Music Monday: Parker's A Northern Ballad

Horatio William Parker (Sept. 15, 1863 - December 18, 1919 )was an American composer, teacher, and organist, who came to be a part of the Second New England School, also commonly known as the Boston Six, along with Amy Beach, George Whitefield Chadwick, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, and John Knowles Paine.Parker was born in Massachusetts, and received his first musical instruction from his mother and later on studied in Boston with George Whitefield Chadwick, Stephen A. Emery, and John Orth. He also studied in Munich with Josef Rheinberger at the Royal Music School. When he returned to the States, he was appointed Professor of Music at the Cathedral School of St. Paul in Garden City, Long Island, and later on the organist at Trinity Church in New York City, and Trinity Church of Boston. He became Professor of Music at Yale University in 1893, and was appointed Dean of Music in 1904, and held that for the rest of his life. When he taught at Yale, one of his students was Charles Ives.

As a composer, Parker wrote much for his instrument, the organ, but also wrote cantatas, oratorios, chamber music, two operas, and orchestral music as well, including A Northern Ballad. This work starts off somberly with the winds, and opens up in to some lush lines throughout just a minute and a half in to it. The work really takes off about three minutes in to it though with thick chords from the strings and each section trading off motifs. Soon several driving motifs help to create an intense, thick atmosphere charged with energy. Yet as quickly as Parker builds that section up, the atmosphere changes with a sweet cello melody, and we're taken to a new musical landscape. Parker's writing is wonderfully rich and lush, and teeming with personality and memorable melodies. Between that and the atmospheres he creates, this piece makes for intriguing listening!