Home Leo Ornstein Scores Discography Audio

Audio

Overview

The MP3 files contained here are provided to allow the many people who do not read music to listen to a broad selection of Ornstein's music. This material has been gleaned from a wide variety of sources. It varies greatly in the quality of both performance and sound (volume may also vary), but it is generally adequate to enable the listener to grasp the substance of the music. In a few cases, in order to further illuminate the music, works are represented by more than one performance.

Musicians who perform Ornstein works, particularly works not represented in this audio section, are requested to sumbit MP3 files for possible inclusion. Please email to Severo@Poonhill.com.

Although much of this audio is unavailable elsewhere, those works indicated by * may be found (in different performances) on the commercial CDs listed in the discography section of this website. Scores for most of these works may also be found in the website's Scores section.

There is no one-to-one correspondence between the audio items and items in the list of scores. Some of the scores are composites (sets of pieces such as the Waltzes, Flute Pieces, etc.) whereas the audio files are often (though not always) individual members of the set. Thus the Scores of the Waltzes are listed as S400, whereas the seventeen individual Waltzes are numbered S400 - S416. Note that identifying S numbers do not indicate chronological order in which works were composed. (See S-number categories in the Scores section of the website).

Three of these audio selections involve Ornstein himself at the piano. The first of these is a recording that was made at the time he completed S155 Tarantelle. You can hear him hesitate as he struggles to remember just what he'd written. The other two are recordings of working (composing) sessions made many years ago on an ancient reel-to-reel tape recorder in Ornstein's tiny studio in New Hampshire where he worked on a bad upright piano. The sound quality is dreadful, but these samples are included to give some insight into the way he worked. They were made during a period in which he tried using a tape recorder to capture ideas. Not surprisingly, searching for a desired segment turned out to be too difficult as it became thoroughly lost among the welter of material that got laid down. Often the tape was simply allowed to run while he worked, then it would be backed up and more things recorded on top of earlier material. The result is a montage of snatches of music, but it gives some insight into his inspirational style of composing. Among other things, you can hear him working on the material that eventually turned into S102 A Long Remembered Sorrow. You can also hear other ideas that were never finished. There is a considerable quantity of such material stored in the sound archives at Yale University.

Audio (MP3s)

List Name	Length (min)	Size (MB)	Performer
Composing Session 1	10:49	12.4	Leo Ornstein
Composing Session 2	8:41	10	Leo Ornstein
S005 - Three Moods	9:20	10.7	William Westney
S006 - Suicide in an Airplane*	4:01	4.6	Niek de Vente
S052 - Dwarf Suite	22:09	25.4	Dwight Peltzer
S054 - Wild Men's Dance*	2:38	6.1	Marc-Andr� Hamelin
S054 - Wild Men's Dance*	2:59	3.5	Niek de Vente
S056 - Impressions of Notre Dame	12:06	13.9	Jeanne Golan
S056 - Impressions of Notre Dame	8:31	9.8	Niek de Vente
S060 - A la Chinoise*	5:07	5.9	William Westney
S060 - A la Chinoise*	4:55	5.7	Marthanne Verbit
S060 - A la Chinoise*	4:42	10.8	Marc-Andr� Hamelin
S060 - A la Chinoise*	5:02	5.8	Niek de Vente
S061 - Poems of 1917	15:38	18	Robert Nasveld
S062 - Arabesque #1 L'Isle D'�l�phantine*	1:37	1.9	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #2. Echo Primitif*	1:25	1.7	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #3. M�lop�e des Pr�tres Hindous*	1:32	1.8	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #4. Eaux Ombrag�es*	0:41	.8	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #5. Paysage M�lancolique*	1:26	1.7	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #6. Fresque Pomp�ienne*	0:58	1.2	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #7. Passion*	0:23	.5	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #8. Les Basoches*	0:32	.6	Marthanne Verbit
S062 - Arabesque #9. Le Vent qui g�mit et rage*	1:21	1.6	Marthanne Verbit
S067 - Water Color #2	1:39	1.9	Severo Ornstein
S067 - Water Color #5	1:39	1.9	Severo Ornstein
S072 - Nine Miniatures #2 Mazurka	1:04	2.5	James Adler
S072 - Nine Miniatures #4 Humoresque	0:38	1.5	James Adler
S072 - Nine Miniatures #8 Valse	1:31	3.5	James Adler
S102 - A Long Remembered Sorrow*	4:03	4.7	Severo Ornstein
S106 - A Morning In The Woods*	6:38	7.7	Marthanne Verbit
S106 - A Morning In The Woods*	6:00	13.8	Sarah Cahill
S111 - A Rendezvous At The Lake	5:29	12.6	Sarah Cahill
S116 - Solitude	3:55	9.1	Sarah Cahill
S154 - To a Grecian Urn	3:26	4	Christopher Oldfather
S155 - Tarantelle*	4:11	4.8	Leo Ornstein
S155 - Tarantelle*	4:30	5.2	William Westney
S200 - Metaphor No. 1*	3:31	8.1	Sarah Cahill
S202 - Metaphor No. 3*	5:18	12.2	Sarah Cahill
S207 - Metaphor No. 8*	2:20	5.4	Sarah Cahill
S208 - Metaphor No. 9*	4:09	9.5	Sarah Cahill
S210 - Metaphor No. 11*	2:33	5.9	Sarah Cahill
S215 - Metaphor No. 16*	4:37	10.6	Sarah Cahill
S300 - Four Impromptus	17:03	19.6	Christopher Oldfather
S320 - Intermezzo #1	4:44	5.5	Severo Ornstein
S350 - Legend #1 for Piano	4:07	4.8	Jennifer Rinehart
S360 - Piano Sonata #4 1st mvt.*	4:36	5.3	Marthanne Verbit
S360 - Piano Sonata #4 2nd mvt.*	4:19	5	Marthanne Verbit
S360 - Piano Sonata #4 3rd mvt.*	3:24	3.9	Marthanne Verbit
S360 - Piano Sonata #4 4th mvt.*	7:01	8.1	Marthanne Verbit
S360 - Piano Sonata #4 complete*	19:59	22.9	William Westney
S361 - Piano Sonata #5 complete*	49.54	47.9	Michael Sellers
S362 - Piano Sonata #6 (single mvt.)	13:04	15	Marvin Tartak
S363 - Piano Sonata #7 1st mvt.*	5:48	13.3	Janice Weber
S363 - Piano Sonata #7 2nd mvt.*	4:12	4.9	Janice Weber
S363 - Piano Sonata #7 3rd mvt.*	5:30	12.7	Janice Weber
S363 - Piano Sonata #7 complete*	20:55	24	Marvin Tartak
S364 - Piano Sonata #8*	28:40	65.7	Marc-Andr� Hamelin
S400 - Waltz #1	1:52	4.3	Tra Nguyen
S403 - Waltz #4	2:32	3	Severo Ornstein
S405 - Waltz #6	2:18	5.3	Tra Nguyen
S406 - Waltz #7*	3:52	4.5	Gloria Cheng
S409 - Waltz #10	2:53	3.4	Severo Ornstein
S440 - Fantasy Piece #1	2:37	3.1	Severo Ornstein
S600 - Nocturne for Clarinet and Piano	5:08	5.9	Kathy Matasy & Steve Yenger
S601 - Hebraic Fantasy for Violin & Piano	4:34	5.3	Caroline Campbell & Dmitriy Cogan
S602 - Prelude and Minuette in Antique Style (Flute/Clarinet)	7:29	8.6	Barbara Chaffe and Marilyn Martella
S603 - Prelude for Flute and Piano	7:49	9	Kate Steinbeck & Ren�e Winton
S604 - Intermezzo for Flute and Piano	4:41	5.4	Jennifer Rinehart & Kathie Lynn
S605 - Poem for Flute and Piano	4:34	5.3	Kate Steinbeck & Lori Lack
S605 - Poem for Flute and Piano	4:33	5.3	Barbara Chaffe & Marvin Tartak
S606 - Viola Fantasy #1	6:00	6.9	Patricia McCarty & Wm. Westney
S608 - String Quartet #2 1st mvt	16:04	18.4	Lydian Quartet
S608 - String Quartet #2 2nd mvt	8:48	10.1	Lydian Quartet
S608 - String Quartet #2 3rd mvt	10:01	11.5	Lydian Quartet
S609 - Ballade for Saxophone and Piano	3:40	4.3	Michael Stillman & Severo Ornstein
S609 - Ballade for Saxophone and Piano	3:44	4.3	Paul Cohen & Jennifer Rinehart
S610 - Piano Quintet 1st mvt.*	13:28	15.5	Westney, Stepner et al.
S610 - Piano Quintet 2nd mvt.*	9:45	11.2	Westney, Stepner et al.
S610 - Piano Quintet 3rd mvt.*	13:42	15.7	Westney, Stepner et al.
S611 - Six Preludes for 'Cello and Piano*	18:55	21.7	Taco Kooistra & Niek de Vente
S611 - Six Preludes for 'Cello and Piano*	22:52	26.2	Parry Karp & Howard Karp
S612 - 'Cello Sonata #1 1st mvt*	8:22	9.6	Bonnie Hampton & NathanSchwartz
S612 - 'Cello Sonata #1 2nd mvt*	6:38	7.6	Bonnie Hampton & NathanSchwartz
S612 - 'Cello Sonata #1 3rd mvt*	4:43	5.5	Bonnie Hampton & NathanSchwartz
S612 - 'Cello Sonata #1 4th mvt*	7:20	8.4	Bonnie Hampton & NathanSchwartz
S613 - 'Cello Sonata #2 (single mvt.)*	14:39	16.8	Eric Wilson & Patricia Hoy
S614 - Violin Sonata, Op 31*	14:09	16.3	Joan Berkhemmer & Robert Nasveld
S615 - String Quartet #3 1st mvt*	13:05	15	New Boston Quartet
S615 - String Quartet #3 2nd mvt*	14:38	16.8	New Boston Quartet
S615 - String Quartet #3 3rd mvt*	8:42	10	New Boston Quartet
S622 - Violin Sonata #1 Op 26 1st mvt*	4:35	5.3	Keith Kirchoff and Gabe Boyers
S622 - Violin Sonata #1 Op 26 2nd mvt*	5:21	6.2	Keith Kirchoff and Gabe Boyers
S622 - Violin Sonata #1 Op 26 3rd mvt*	3:11	3.7	Keith Kirchoff and Gabe Boyers
S622 - Violin Sonata #1 Op 26 4th mvt*	5:17	6.1	Keith Kirchoff and Gabe Boyers
S623 - Violin Sonata No. 3 Op Posth.*	10:31	12.1	Keith Kirchoff and Gabe Boyers
S821 - Nocturne for Orchestra	12:40	14.6	Louisville Symphony
S822 - Dance of the Fates	7:03	8.1	Louisville Symphony
S824 - Piano Concerto (2 pianos) 1st mvt	17:01	19.5	Jeanne Golan & Christopher Oldfather
S824 - Piano Concerto (2 pianos) 2nd mvt	7:46	9	Jeanne Golan & Christopher Oldfather
S824 - Piano Concerto (2 pianos) 3rd mvt	10:26	12	Jeanne Golan & Christopher Oldfather
S824 - Piano Concerto 1st mvt	16:51	19.3	Alan Feinberg
S824 - Piano Concerto 2nd mvt	8:08	9.4	Alan Feinberg
S824 - Piano Concerto 3rd mvt.	9:55	11.4	Alan Feinberg