COMPOSER FOCUSES ON COMPOSER

Audiences often wonder why composers don’t write symphonies the way Beethoven did. But some of those who try, according to Los Angeles Philharmonic composer-in-residence John Harbison, get left out of the performance mainstream.

“The post-classical approach is a lost half of the American tradition,” Harbison, 48, said.

“That was a line that became cut off in the mid-1950s when it became fairly unpopular with music practitioners.”

Now, however, Harbison sees a counter-trend forming.

He cites composer Harold Shapero, whose Symphony for Classical Orchestra (premiered in 1938) is being revived this week by Andre Previn and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It has not been heard in 36 years. (See review by Martin Bernheimer).

Harbison will focus on Shapero’s work in a preconcert lecture at 6:30 p.m. today at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. (Previn will conduct the symphony on the 8 p.m program. Also featured will be Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto with piano soloist Emanuel Ax. Both lecture and performance are sponsored by the Orange County Philharmonic Society.)

In his talk, Harbison will juxtapose parts of Shapero’s Symphony with sections of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.

“That’s pure convenience,” he said, “because both are in the same key (of B-flat), and so the relationships can be heard more clearly.”

But there are more important reasons, too:

Shapero’s work is “absolutely in the classical format,” Harbison said: “Its formal concerns are geared to grappling with Beethoven large structures, and its belief in those principles is very deep.”

At the same time, the work demonstrates the “youthful exuberance and confidence” of the 27-year-old composer.

For Harbison, Shapero’s decision to write a symphony at all represents a heroic decision to wrestle with a fiendishly difficult musical form.

“Some people will shrug and say, ‘Of course, a symphony.’ But, my God, it’s hard to do what he did. And it always was incredibly difficult. In 1795, there were only three composers out of about 20,000 who could do it really well--Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

“How many of the other composers of that period--or even later--really managed to make that sonata structure embody music of real power?”

Harbison expects that there will be argument about how well Shapero succeeded with the classical forms. “But there won’t be any argument that he’s taken on the problems.

“And he does it for true reasons of the aesthetic urge--to make a beautiful, exciting piece.”

Harbison hopes that younger composers will hear the work. “Some of them will reject it, but I hope there will be others who would say, ‘This would be a challenging thing to do, to discover variations of the strict classical things.’ ”

Future preconcert previews will be given on the following dates:

--Jan. 31: Robert Winter, professor of music, UCLA.

--Feb. 2: Burton Karson, professor of music, Cal State Fullerton.

--April 25: Gail Eichenthal, announcer and producer, public radio station KUSC-FM.