ABSTRACT
In certain academic circles, serialism became the fashion, taking Arnold Schoenberg rather than Webern as the model. Composers adapted the system to suit their own individual concepts. Among the numerous Americans who visited Europe in the early years of the twentieth century, only Wallingford Riegger and Roger Sessions adopted serialism. In addition Riegger worked with several dance companies where advanced idioms were more acceptable than in the concert hall. As with the Third Symphony, Riegger used part of a dance score for the slow movement; it is based on Chronicle, written in 1936 for Martha Graham. Symphony No.2 was performed at the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in Amsterdam in 1948 and won the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award in 1950, but public reaction remained unenthusiastic. A Chamber Symphony followed in 1968 and a Second Symphony was performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1970.
