Description
LOW COST FLAT RATE SHIPPING WITHIN THE USA, BUT I WILL SHIP WORLDWIDE AT BUY'S EXPENSE
UP FORsale
IS A RARE CLASSIC PIECE OF
ENTERTAINMENT/ THEATRICAL MEMORABILIA
FROM
CHARLES COOK CUSHINGS'
PERSONAL COLLECTION
1957
SONATA FOR CLAINET AND PIANO
THIS ITEM IS FROM CHARLES CUSHINGS' PERSONAL COLLECTION, IT WAS COPYRIGHTED IN 1958 BY MR. CUSHING. IT SHOWS THE MUSICAL COMPOSTION FOR THE SONATA FOR CLARINET & PIANO AND FEATURES THE THREE MUSICAL SCORES
LARGHETTO - ALLEGRO
MODERATO CANTABILE
ALLEGRO GIOCOSO
THIS ITEM IS HELD IN A LIGHT BUT FIRM PREMIUM PAPER STOCK PAMPHLET AS DISPLAYED IN THE PHOTO GALLERY. 11 PAGES OF WRITTEN COMPOSTION NOTES . ON THE FRONT COVER & INTERIOR HIS HAD WRITTEN SIGNATURE ALONG WITH HIS CALIFORNIA AND HIS ADDRESS IN FRANCE WRITTEN ON THE ITEM. THIS IS A RARE PIECE OF MEMORABILIA TO HAVE IN YOUR COLLETION. MOST OF HIS PERSONAL ITEMS ARE HELD IN LIBRARIES, PRIVATE AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Charles Cushing taught at the University of California for 37 years. During that period he achieved distinction, not only as a zestful and sympathetic teacher, but also as a skillful and gifted composer. As a native Californian, he received his early education in the public schools in Oakland, and went on to serious study in musical composition at the University in Berkeley, where he received especial encouragement from the visiting French composer, the outstanding Charles Koechlin, in the summers of 1927 and 1928.
Charles' earned his bachelor's degree in 1928, and obtained his Master's in 1929. Upon graduation, he won the coveted George Ladd Prize, which gained him the honor of studying composition under the internationally acclaimed Nadia Boulanger for a span of two years at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. Upon his return to Berkeley, he was appointed Instructor in the University's Music Department, advancing to the full Professorship in 1948, where he continued until he retired in 1968.
During these years, Charles wrote many noteworthy musical compositions, including a piece for chorus and band, called Angel Camp, commissioned for the 150th Anniversary of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1952), followed by a work for orchestra commissioned by the Ford Foundation, entitled Cereus, a Poem for Orchestry (1959). This was performed in 1961 by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and recorded by the Koussevitsky Foundation in 1962; it received wide acclaim.
Charles Cushing conducted the University's concert band for 18 years (1934-1952), and continued to raise the profile of the organization. As contemporary notices testify, his conducting was first rate; performances under his direction were of a quality seldom achieved by comparable bodies. His interest in quality encouraged him to transcribe a large amount of great music for this medium, producing a body of work notably distinguished by his exceptional skill and sensitivity. In 1947 he conducted on campus the first American performances of Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat.
During his years in Paris he became a devotee of French music. Upon his return to America he worked tirelessly to encourage performances of French music; indeed he played a leading role in many performances, either as a conductor or as an accompanist. In 1952 the French government recognized his contributions by making him a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.
One of the highlights of his career was the production of Darius Milhaud's opera The Sorrows of Orpheus in Hertz Hall in 1959. Charles translated the text into elegant English; he managed and conducted the performances. Madeleine Milhaud served as the stage director and famed artist David Park created the sets. It received rave notices in the press and achieved a level of production unsurpassed at the University of California to the present day.
Charles Cushing had a wide circle of admirers, both for his composition and his conducting. The Music Department's files include a number of congratulatory letters from such distinguished persons as Sir Arthur Bliss, Nadia Boulanger, Darius Milhaud, Alfred Frankenstein, and Igor Stravinsky.
As an educator he was demanding, but he earned the respect of countless students over a long period of time. As a graduate adviser he went far beyond the call of duty, writing defenses of students' unorthodoxies when he was convinced they were justified, and he had the courage to say no when he believed them unwarranted. He had a waggish sense of humor. At the same time he brought a stabilizing influence to Department meetings because of his judicious sense of fair-mindedness.
Among his many outstanding works was Carmen Saeculare, performed under his direction at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. He also translated the texts of Milhaud's Les malheurs d'Orphee and Satie's Socrate. In 1934-52, he conducted the University of California, (Berkeley) Concert Band.
Among his works are incidental work for The Tempest (W. Shakespeare), 1964; The Thesmophoriazusae (Aristophanes), 1933; Ondine (J. Giraudoux) 1961; Intermezzo (J. Giraudoux), 1967. A selective list of his orchestral work include: Carmen Saeculare, 1935; Divertimento, 1947; Angel Camp, 1952; Cereus, 1960; numerous arrangements for band including Bela Bartok's Petite suite (New York, 1963) and many others. He also did solo vocal - Lyric Suite, (1946); more than 40 songs, Ecologues, Sonatas, string quartets and many other pieces.
Cushing died in Berkeley California on 14 April 1982.
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