Contemporary Classical

Contest. Contest. Who wants to win tickets to Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft for next Tuesday night?

I was supposed to run a contest promoting the premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft tonight at the NYPhil but I forgot (that’ll teach them to do business with a card-carrying member of the Medicare set) so this is a makeup.  I have tickets for the October 12 performance for the first person who can tell me the name of American composer whose Second Symphony is based on a single lyrical motif and explain what in the hell this has to do with Magnus Lindberg.  I also have a pair for the first person to correctly identify the Helsinki hotel at whose bar my wife and I paid $50 for two bloody marys about 20 years ago.  One hotel per person, please.  Bonne chance.

New clue: Jose’s Howard Hanson is a good try and may be the winner but he is not the composer or connection to Magnus Lindberg I had in mind.  So, here’s an additional clue:  the composer in question was also a pretty well-known music critic and he died at 63.