Instrumentation
Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 players), harp, piano, and strings. [5]
American Gothic is an orchestral composition by the American composer Michael Daugherty. [1] The approximately 20-minute work is composed in three movements inspired by the paintings of the Iowan artist Grant Wood (1891-1942). [2] Daugherty is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, [3] where the piece premiered on May 4, 2013, at Cedar Rapids' Paramount Theatre, with Timothy Hankewich, conductor. [4]
Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 players), harp, piano, and strings. [5]
The world premiere of American Gothic received a strongly favorable review, noting the 1,000+ listeners in attendance and the enthusiastic reception of Daugherty's groundbreaking foray into orchestral bluegrass in the third movement. [6]
Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor of Linn, Benton, Cedar, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties.
The music of Iowa includes such notable musicians as Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers, Bix Beiderbecke, Art Farmer, Peggy Gilbert, Patty Waters, Mortimer Wilson, Thurlow Lieurance, Charlie Haden, Arthur Russell, Greg Brown, William Elliott Whitmore, Clarence Whitehill, Meredith Willson, composer of The Music Man, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda. Rock and metal bands from Iowa include For Today, Euforquestra, The Envy Corps, Hawks, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Radio Moscow, Modern Life Is War, and Unknown Component. The city of Walnut is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake is known as the place the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom. The Escorts are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. Sioux City brought to the National scene The Velaires, and rocker Tommy Bolin.
Michael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired Metropolis Symphony for Orchestra (1988–93), Dead Elvis for Solo Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble (1993), Jackie O (1997), Niagara Falls for Symphonic Band (1997), UFO for Solo Percussion and Orchestra (1999) and for Symphonic Band (2000), Bells for Stokowski from Philadelphia Stories for Orchestra (2001) and for Symphonic Band (2002), Fire and Blood for Solo Violin and Orchestra (2003) inspired by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Time Machine for Three Conductors and Orchestra (2003), Ghost Ranch for Orchestra (2005), Deus ex Machina for Piano and Orchestra (2007), Labyrinth of Love for Soprano and Chamber Winds (2012), American Gothic for Orchestra (2013), and Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra (2015). Daugherty has been described by The Times (London) as "a master icon maker" with a "maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear."
Joseph Clyde Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize.
American Gothic is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood.
Metropolis Symphony for Orchestra (1988–93) by American composer Michael Daugherty is a five-movement symphony inspired by Superman comics. The entire piece was created over the span of five years with separate commissions for each movement. Individual movements may be performed separately; however, it is preferred that the 41 minute symphony be performed in its entirety. MetropolisSymphony was premiered by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman conducting, in January 1994, at the Meyerhoff Concert Hall in Baltimore, Maryland.
Robert Paterson is an American composer of contemporary classical music, as well as a conductor and percussionist. His catalog includes over 100 compositions. He has been called a "modern day master" and is primarily known for his colorful orchestral works, large body of chamber music and clear vocal writing in his operas, choral works, vocal chamber works and song cycles.
UFO for solo percussion and orchestra (1999) and for solo percussion and symphonic band (2000) by American composer Michael Daugherty, is a composition written for percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
Deus ex Machina is a piano concerto by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The 33-minute work was jointly commissioned by the Charlotte, Nashville, New Jersey, Rochester and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras. It won the 2011 Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for a recording by soloist Terrance Wilson and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero.
Orchestra Iowa is a United States symphony orchestra based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The current music director and conductor is Timothy Hankewich. Established in 1921 as the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra has a full season, performing a fine arts series, a chamber series, a popular series, and performances with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Ballet Quad Cities. The orchestra principally performs at the Paramount Theatre located in downtown Cedar Rapids. They also perform regular concerts at Iowa City West High School and Brucemore. The chamber series is performed at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in Coralville, Iowa.
Elliott Miles McKinley is an American composer, improviser, and teacher. He is currently Associate Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, and director of the Alba Music Festival Composition Program in Italy.His father is the late American composer and jazz pianist William Thomas McKinley.
Route 66 is a single-movement composition for orchestra by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The piece was commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and premiered on April 25, 1998 at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in East Lansing, Michigan under conductor Yoshimi Takeda.
Time Machine for Three Conductors and Orchestra is a two-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The piece was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and premiered November 24, 2003, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra led by the conductors Mariss Jansons, Lucas Richman, and Edward Cumming.
Ghost Ranch is a three-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Michael Daugherty. Inspired by the life and work of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, the title is derived from the name of O'Keeffe's New Mexico summer home, Ghost Ranch. The piece was commissioned by BBC Radio 3, completed in 2005, and premiered February 8, 2006 in Poole, United Kingdom, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Marin Alsop.
Sunset Strip is an orchestral composition in three movements by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The piece was composed in 1999 and premiered January 7, 2000 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with conductor Hugh Wolff leading the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Raise the Roof is a one-movement concerto for timpani and orchestra by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The work was commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the Max M. Fisher Music Center. It was premiered in Detroit, October 16, 2003, with conductor Neeme Järvi leading the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and timpanist Brian Jones. Daugherty later arranged the piece for concert band in 2007; this arrangement was commissioned by the University of Michigan Symphony Band and was premiered under conductor Michael Haithcock at the National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association on March 30, 2007. Raise the Roof is one of Daugherty's most-programmed pieces and has been frequently performed as a concert opener since its publication.
Worldes Blis is a motet for orchestra by the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. It was first performed at The Proms on 28 August 1969 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.
Lovers is an album by guitarist Nels Cline which was released in August 2016 on the Blue Note label. Cline stated " I hope Lovers offers something of an update of the 'mood music' idea and ideal, while celebrating and challenging our iconic notion of romance".
Tales of Hemingway is a concerto for cello and orchestra composed in 2015 by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The music is inspired by the writings of the famous American writer Ernest Hemingway.
The American Symphony is a symphony for orchestra by the American composer Adam Schoenberg. The work was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and was completed in early 2011. It was first performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the direction of Michael Stern at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City on March 4, 2011.
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