Robert Parris: Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra

Robert Parris (1924-1999): Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra (1955) Fred Begun, timpani, National Symphony Orchestra, Howard Mitchell, conducting Recorded live, Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C., March 25, 1958 -From the New York Times article by Allan Kozinn of January 3, 2000: Robert Parris was a composer of chamber, orchestral and vocal works. "...among his more than 80 works were a Symphony (1952), a Piano Concerto (1954), a Viola Concerto (1956), a Violin Concerto(1958), a Flute Concerto (1960), a Trombone Concerto (1964) and ''Rite of Passage,'' for clarinet, electric guitar and chamber orchestra (1978). His Symphonic Variations were commissioned by the National Symphony and performed in 1987. "Mr. Parris was born in Philadelphia in 1924. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in music education in 1945 and 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania, he studied composition with Peter Mennin and William Bergsma at the Juilliard School. He also studied with Aaron Copland and Jacques Ibert at Tanglewood, and in 1952 he won a Fulbright fellowship to study with Arthur Honegger at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris." His best-known work was his Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra (specifically entitled Concerto for Five Kettledrums and Orchestra,) which was completed in 1955 for National Symphony Orchestra's chief kettledrum player Fred Begun. It received national attention at its premiere by the National Symphony in 1958. It is this performance we hear in this upload.