Halsey Stevens

The other lesser known composer on this program (besides Robert Sheldon) is the American composer Halsey Stevens, 1908-1989. His main job (composers rarely just get to sit and compose) was teaching at USC from 1947 until he died at age 80. He also wrote about music and in 1953 published "the Life and Music of Belá Bartók". The cello duet on this program was written in 1957 and shows Bartok's influence, being 5 short movements similar in feeling to Bartók's 44 Duets for 2 violins. A wonderful thing about Halsey Stevens is that he worked to make his music idiomatic to the instruments and also believed that music should communicate to the audience rather than alienate them. It seems obvious now, but particularly in the 1960's and 70's this was most definitely not always the case, as some of us can recall!