All Things Majestic

Last updated

All Things Majestic is an orchestral suite written by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Grand Teton Music Festival to commemorate the organization's 50th anniversary. [1] It was first performed at Walk Festival Hall on August 19, 2011.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which mixes instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, each grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments.

Jennifer Elaine Higdon is an American composer of classical music and composition teacher. She has received many awards including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition - the first in 2009 for her Percussion Concerto, the second in 2018 for her Viola Concerto. The latter was on an album of her music, Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto, and Oboe Concerto, that won the 2018 Grammy for Best Classical Compendium.

Grand Teton Music Festival non-profit organisation in the USA

The Grand Teton Music Festival is a year-round classical music presenting organization in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The non-profit organization was founded in 1962.

Contents

Composition

Background

In the score program notes, Higdon, who described the National Parks as "one of America's greatest treasures," recalled that she "jumped" at the chance to compose a work commemorating the Grand Teton Music Festival. She described All Things Majestic as "a tribute to not only the festival and it’s home, the Tetons, but also to the grandeur and majesty of all of our parks." [1]

Structure

All Things Majestic has a duration of approximately 22 minutes and is cast in four movements:

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

  1. Teton Range
  2. String Lake
  3. Snake River
  4. Cathedrals

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, celesta, timpani, three percussionists, and strings.

Western concert flute transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood

The Western concert flute is a transverse (side-blown) woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, flute player, or (rarely) fluter.

Oboe musical instrument of the woodwind family

Oboes are a family of double reed woodwind instruments. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. Oboes are usually made of wood, but there are also oboes made of synthetic materials. A soprano oboe measures roughly 65 cm long, with metal keys, a conical bore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. The distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright". When oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the treble instrument rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais, or oboe d'amore

Clarinet type of woodwind instrument

The clarinet is a musical-instrument family belonging to the group known as the woodwind instruments. It has a single-reed mouthpiece, a straight, cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore, and a flared bell. A person who plays a clarinet is called a clarinetist.

Reception

The music critic Donald Rosenberg of Gramophone praised All Things Majestic, "whose four movements paint portraits of thrilling landscapes." He added, "Higdon uses the full resources of the orchestra to convey the splendour of mountains, motion of bodies of water and wonders of other natural phenomena." [2] Carlos María Solare of The Strad similarly wrote, "The kaleidoscopic variety of All Things Majestic, a four-movement suite inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of the Teton mountain range, showcases the orchestra's collective virtuosity." [3]

<i>Gramophone</i> (magazine) UK monthly magazine published in London devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings

Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie. It was acquired by Haymarket in 1999. In 2013 the Mark Allen Group became the publisher.

The Strad is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instruments, including cellists, violinists, and violists for amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and reviews of instruments, related feature articles and news, and information about musical concerts. The magazine offers practical advice on technique, profiles of leading performers, master classes by some of the great teachers in the world and the craft of instrument making such as luthiers. It also includes articles about orchestras and music schools.

Related Research Articles

Concerto musical composition usually in three parts

A concerto is a musical composition generally composed of three movements, in which, usually, one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra or concert band. It is accepted that its characteristics and definition have changed over time. In the 17th century, sacred works for voices and orchestra were typically called concertos, as reflected by J. S. Bach's usage of the title "concerto" for many of the works that we know as cantatas.

Flute repertoire is the general term for pieces composed for flute. The following lists are not intended to be complete, but rather to present a representative sampling of the most commonly played and well-known works in the genre. The lists also do not generally include works originally written for other instruments and subsequently transcribed, adapted, or arranged for flute, unless such piece is very common in the repertory, in which case it is listed with its original instrumentation noted.

Peter Scott Lewis is an American composer of contemporary classical music.

Vache Sharafyan Armenian composer

Vache Sharafyan, One of the major composers in Armenia, but also internationally Vache Sharafyan is the author of more than ninety compositions including symphonic works, chamber music, choral, vocal music, including the opera "King Abgar", one act ballet "Second Moon", ballet in acts "Ancient Gods".

Trumpet repertoire

The trumpet repertoire consists of solo literature and orchestral or, more commonly, band parts written for the trumpet. Tracings its origins to 1500 BC, the trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family.

Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was written in 2008. The work was jointly commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute of Music. It was composed for the violinist Hilary Hahn and was given its world premiere by Hahn and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Mario Venzano on February 6, 2009. The piece was later awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Scott Slapin is an American composer and violist based in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Peter Seabourne British musician

Peter Seabourne is a contemporary classical composer based in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.

The Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition in five movements by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra with contributions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philadelphia Music Project, and Peter Benoliel. It was premiered at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia June 12, 2002, with conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch leading the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Viola Concerto is a concerto for viola and orchestra in three movements by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was jointly commissioned by the Library of Congress, the Nashville Symphony, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Aspen Music Festival. It was premiered March 7, 2015 at the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., with conductor Robert Spano leading violist Roberto Díaz and the Curtis Chamber Orchestra. The work won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

The Piano Concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. It was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and was first performed December 3, 2009 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. The premiere featured pianist Yuja Wang and the National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Andrew Litton.

Concerto 4-3 is a concerto for two violins, double bass, and orchestra in three movements by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned for the string trio Time for Three by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed in Philadelphia on January 10, 2008, by Time for Three and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

Loco is an orchestral composition in one movement by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Ravinia Festival of Highland Park, Illinois to commemorate the Ravinia train as part of the Train Commission Project. It was first performed on July 31, 2004 at the Ravinia Festival by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Singing Rooms is a concerto for solo violin, choir, and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was jointly commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. It was first performed on January 17, 2008 in Philadelphia by the violinist Jennifer Koh, The Philadelphia Singers, and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the conductor Christoph Eschenbach. The text of the piece is set to poems by Jeanne Minahan.

The Oboe Concerto is a concerto for a solo oboe and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Minnesota Commissioning Club and was premiered on September 9, 2005 by the oboist Kathy Greenbank and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Higdon later reworked the piece into her Soprano Sax Concerto in 2007.

The Soprano Sax Concerto is a concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was originally commissioned by the Minnesota Commissioning Club as Higdon's Oboe Concerto and was premiered by oboist Kathy Greenbank and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2005. Higdon later reworked the composition, however, and the piece was premiered in its form as a saxophone concerto on August 3, 2007 at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music by the saxophonist Timothy McAllister and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra under the conductor Marin Alsop.

The Concerto for Viola and Orchetra is a musical composition for viola and orchestra by the American composer Walter Piston. The work was written in 1957 for the violist Joseph de Pasquale, who first performed the piece with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on March 7, 1958.

References

  1. 1 2 Higdon, Jennifer. All Things Majestic: Program Note. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  2. ↑ Rosenberg, Donald (May 2017). "HIGDON All Things Majestic. Oboe Concerto. Viola Concerto". Gramophone . Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ Solare, Carlos María (October 2017). "Higdon: Viola Concerto; Oboe Concerto; All Things Majestic". The Strad . Retrieved April 23, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.