North – Suite from A Streetcar Named Desire

Alex North was born outside of Philadelphia as Alexis Soifer, into a family of Russian heritage.  After studying piano and composition at the nearby Curtis Institute and at Juilliard, he spent two years at the Moscow Conservatory, even joining the Union of Soviet Composers.  Upon returning to the United States in his mid-20s, he worked as the musical director for a modern dance troupe and later wrote the music for more than eighty World War II newsreels, serving as a captain under the Office of War Information.  After the war, his engagements included the musical Queen of Sheba, where he met Molly Kazan.  Ms. Kazan’s husband Elie then asked North to come to Holly­wood to write the music for A Streetcar Named Desire.  Later that same year, North also wrote music for Death of a Salesman; both scores received Academy Award nomi­na­tions in 1952.  During his long career, he worked extensively for both film and television, and in 1985 he received a “lifetime achievement” Oscar.

 

A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the play by Tennessee Williams, is set in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans.  The story’s central conflict is the competing influences felt by a young woman, Stella, from Blanche, her refined yet disturbed sister, and Stanley, her animalistic yet savvy husband.  North wrote in a jazz idiom for this film, with music that struts, wallows, and pouts just as its main characters do.  The agitated section of this suite is from the scene where Blanche, who is haunted by the memories of a lover that committed suicide, finally reaches her breaking point and begins her descent into madness.

 

2003-04 PCO repertoire