Blue cathedral

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blue cathedral is an orchestral composition by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music in 1999 to commemorate the conservatory's 75th anniversary. [1] It was first performed in 2000 by the Curtis Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra. [2] The piece is dedicated to the memory of Higdon's brother and is one of the composer's most performed works. [3] [4] [5] [6]

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.

Curtis Institute of Music music school

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia that offers courses of study leading to a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, or Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. It is among the most selective institutes of higher education in the world with a 4.8% admissions rate.

Contents

Composition

blue cathedral has a duration of roughly 13 minutes and is composed in a single movement.

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.

Background

The piece was written in memory of Higdon's younger brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, who died of skin cancer in June 1998. The composer wrote in the score program note:

I began writing this piece at a unique juncture in my life and found myself pondering the question of what makes a life. The recent loss of my younger brother, Andrew Blue, made me reflect on the amazing journeys that we all make in our lives, crossing paths with so many individuals singularly and collectively, learning and growing each step of the way. This piece represents the expression of the individual and the group... our inner travels and the places our souls carry us, the lessons we learn, and the growth we experience. In tribute to my brother, I feature solos for the clarinet (the instrument he played) and the flute (the instrument I play). Because I am the older sibling, it is the flute that appears first in this dialog. At the end of the work, the two instruments continue their dialogue, but it is the flute that drops out and the clarinet that continues on in the upward progressing journey. [1]

Higdon later described the process of composing blue cathedral as "the most cathartic thing [she] could have done." [3]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra comprising two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), oboe, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, piano, celesta, timpani, three percussionists, and strings. [1]

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.

Piccolo small musical instrument of the flute family

The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The modern piccolo has most of the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written. This gave rise to the name ottavino, which the instrument is called in the scores of Italian composers. It is also called flauto piccolo or flautino.

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

Reception

blue cathedral has received a positive response from critics. Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun lauded, "The music seems to emit and reflect light as it moves from stillness to exuberance and back again, tapering off ethereally. If you didn't know the personal story behind it, the music could still touch your heart; when you do know that story, it can touch your soul." [7] David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer also praised the piece, writing:

Tim Smith is an American classical music critic and journalist.

<i>The Baltimore Sun</i> daily broadsheet newspaper in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States

The Baltimore Sun is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the American state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, the newspaper is owned by Tribune Publishing.

<i>The Philadelphia Inquirer</i> daily newspaper

The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. Owned by Philadelphia Media Network, a subsidiary of The Philadelphia Foundation's nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media, The Inquirer has the eighteenth largest average weekday U.S. newspaper circulation and has won twenty Pulitzer Prizes. It is the newspaper of record in the Delaware Valley.

Listeners don't need to know that blue cathedral was written as a memorial for Higdon's deceased brother: You're so enveloped by the grief, hope and intuitive musical invention welling up through the rich orchestration that you might not remember many specific details about the music from one hearing to the next. I've heard it a lot, and though it's hardly dense or difficult, every encounter feels like a new one. [2]

Travis Rivers of The Spokesman-Review similarly remarked:

<i>The Spokesman-Review</i> broadsheet newspaper in Spokane, Washington, United States

The Spokesman-Review is a daily broadsheet newspaper in the northwest United States, based in Spokane, Washington; it is the city's only daily publication. It has the third highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in Eastern Washington.

blue cathedral produced an otherworldly atmosphere of floating sound, yet the work never seemed directionless. The work opened with very soft bell-like sounds and quiet solos beautifully played by flutist Bruce Bodden and clarinetist Chip Phillips. As the work gained intensity many of the orchestra principal players also joined with impressive solos. At the height of wave of sound, the celestial quiet of the beginning returned, accompanied with muted strings and the sound of softly ringing Chinese Reflex Bells and the eerie sound of tuned water-filled glasses being rubbed along their rims. The work was wonderfully effective besides being friendly to the ear. [8]

Recording

A recording of blue cathedral, performed by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, was released in 2003 through Telarc. The disk also featured Christopher Theofanidis's Rainbow Body , Samuel Barber's Symphony in One Movement, and Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring . [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Rainbow Body is an orchestral composition by the American composer Christopher Theofanidis. It was commissioned by the Houston Symphony, which first performed the work in April 2000 under the conductor Robert Spano. The piece is dedicated to the Texas lawyer and philanthropist Glen Rosenbaum. Rainbow Body is one of Theofanidis's most-performed compositions and won the 2003 London Masterprize competition.

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.

The Percussion Concerto is a one-movement concerto for solo percussion and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was jointly commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with contributions from the Philadelphia Music Project and the Lacy Foundation of LDI, Ltd. The piece was completed in 2005 and is dedicated to the percussionist Colin Currie, for whom the concerto was written. The piece won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. That same year, Higdon won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto (2008).

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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.

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The Low Brass Concerto is a concerto for four solo low brass instruments and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for their renowned low brass section and co-commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was composed in 2017 and was first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti on February 1, 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Higdon, Jennifer (2000). blue cathedral: Program Note Archived February 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine .. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Stearns, David Patrick (December 1, 2003). "Higdon's 'blue cathedral' still sounds fresh Grief and hope mingle in the Philadelphia composer's work, which had its orchestra debut". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Schweitzer, Vivien (April 21, 2010). "Despite Anxiety and Naysayers, Composer Wins Her Pulitzer". The New York Times . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Lobb, Annelena (November 26, 2005). "Jennifer Higdon". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ Druckenbrod, Andrew (November 2, 2005). "Higdon poured grief into 'blue cathedral'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  6. ↑ Huizenga, Tom (September 18, 2012). "Why The Atlanta Symphony Matters: Five Recordings For The Lockout". Deceptive Cadence. NPR . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  7. ↑ Smith, Tim (September 27, 2014). "Alsop, BSO make case for Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ Rivers, Travis (May 21, 2005). "Glorious finale stamps Amen on Preu's fine first season". The Spokesman-Review . Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Freymann-Weyr, Jeffrey (July 8, 2003). "Christopher Theofanidis: 'Rainbow Body'". NPR . Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ Farach-Colton, Andrew (September 2003). "Rainbow Body: A vibrantly programmed and played mix of old and new that flatters all concerned". Gramophone . Retrieved February 5, 2016.
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