Color Wheel is an orchestral composition written in 2001 by the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis. The work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra for the opening concert at Verizon Hall in the newly constructed Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia and in celebration of the orchestra's centennial. Its world premiere was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch at Verizon Hall on December 15, 2001. Color Wheel is dedicated to the composer's wife Evelyne Luest. [1]
Kernis conceived of Color Wheel as a "'miniature' concerto for orchestra," which treats the orchestra "as a large and dynamic body of sound and color." The resulting work is cast in one continuous movement and lasts about 22 minutes. The title of the piece comes from the eponymous visual tool used for organizing color hues around a circle; in the score program note, Kernis wrote, "I feel that this piece concentrates on the bolder contrasts of basic primary colors. (I sometimes see colors when I compose, and the qualities of certain chords do elicit specific sensation in me — for example, I see A major as bright yellow)." [1]
The work is scored for an orchestra comprising three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling cor anglais), three clarinets (2nd doubling E-flat clarinet; 3rd doubling bass clarinet), three bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), four horns, four trumpets (1st doubling piccolo trumpet), two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, four or five percussionists, electric bass (can be substituted by a second keyboardist playing a synthesizer with electric bass sound), piano (doubling celesta), harp, and strings. [1]
Color Wheel has been praised by music critics. Reviewing the world premiere, Tim Page of The Washington Post described the piece as "an engaging riot of orchestral color that lacks the pomposity of so many ceremonial compositions." [2] Geoff Brown of BBC Music Magazine later praised the piece for its "celebratory panache," saying that "it spins not only through the colour spectrum but the stylistic spectrum as well: granite dissonances, pensive calm, nervous jazz, Hollywood shock and awe – so many characteristic American sounds find a home with this prize-winning composer, jostling inside a variation chain in fussily luscious orchestrations. Weak ending excepted, it's an exhilarating ride, blessed with a clear recording that vividly captures the music’s whirlwind textures." [3] Laurence Vittes of Gramophone similarly wrote, "An awesome timpani roll [...] introduces passages of frozen time like Nevsky's ice lake leading to Oz-like poppy-field fantasies, delirious woodwinds and brass attitudes, and suddenly you realise you're in the middle of what the composer calls a 'miniature' concerto for orchestra, just the kind of exhilarating showpiece that had been ordered. [4]
Conversely, David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer described Color Wheel as "good music [...] buried under way too many notes, suggesting how the weight of being a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer can be inhibiting and inspiring." [5]
A recording of Color Wheel, performed by the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, was released on album together with Kernis's Symphony No. 4 Chromelodeon through Naxos in June 2020. [4] [3]
EXPO is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was the first work commissioned by the New York Philharmonic under the conductor Alan Gilbert, and was Lindberg's first commission as the orchestra's composer-in-residence. The piece was first performed on September 16, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, during Alan Gilbert's inaugural concert with the New York Philharmonic. EXPO was the first newly commissioned work to open the New York Philharmonic's concert season since the premiere of Aaron Copland's Connotations under Leonard Bernstein on September 23, 1962.
Aaron Jay Kernis is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as Director of the Minnesota Orchestra's Composers' Institute, and is currently the Workshop Director of the Nashville Symphony Composer Lab. He has received numerous awards and honors throughout his thirty-five year career. He lives in New York City with his wife, pianist Evelyne Luest, and their two children.
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 Venzago on February 6, 2009. The piece was later awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Symphony No. 10 is the tenth symphony by the American composer Philip Glass. The work was commissioned by the Orchestre Français des Jeunes and premiered August 9, 2012, with Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Orchestre Français des Jeunes at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence. The piece had its United Kingdom premiere July 31, 2013 at The Proms in Royal Albert Hall.
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The Concerto for Orchestra is a four-movement concerto for orchestra written in 1969 by the American composer Elliott Carter. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate their 125th anniversary and was premiered by the orchestra under the conductor Leonard Bernstein in the Philharmonic Hall, New York City, on February 5, 1970.
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 Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was jointly commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.
The Microsymphony is a single-movement composition for orchestra by the American composer Charles Wuorinen. The work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and was completed in 1992. The piece was a finalist for the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
The Oboe Concerto is a composition for solo oboe and orchestra by the American composer John Harbison. The work was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony for its principal oboist William Bennett. It was completed on October 18, 1991, and was given its world premiere by Bennett and the San Francisco Symphony under the conductor Herbert Blomstedt in 1992.
The Clarinet Concerto is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was written for the Finnish clarinetist Kari Kriikku. The piece was given its world premiere in Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, on September 14, 2002 by Kari Kriikku and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The composition is one of Lindberg's most frequently performed works.
Aura is a composition for orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by Suntory for the 1994 Suntory International program for music composition. Its world premiere was given on June 11, 1994 in Tokyo by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kazufumi Yamashita. The piece is dedicated in memoriam of the Polish composer Witold Lutosławski, who died partway through its composition.
Cantigas is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra and was composed between 1998 and early 1999. Its world premiere was performed in Cleveland by the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi on April 1, 1999.
The Flute Concerto is a composition for flute and orchestra by the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis. The work was jointly commissioned for the flautist Marina Piccinini by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chautauqua Institution, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. It was first performed in Detroit on January 21, 2016, by Piccinini and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The piece is dedicated to Marina Piccinini "with warmth and admiration."
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The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra "Eleven Eleven" is the first violin concerto written by American composer Danny Elfman. Co-commissioned by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Stanford Live at Stanford University, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the piece premiered at Smetana Hall in Prague, on June 21, 2017, with Sandy Cameron on violin and John Mauceri conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, the premiere recording of the concerto featured Cameron with Mauceri conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Virga is a short orchestral composition written in 2007 by the Scottish composer Helen Grime. The work was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra in partnership with UBS, as part of the UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers series. The piece was given its world premiere by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier at the Barbican Centre, London, on 1 July 2007. In 2010, Virga was selected by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as one the best ten new classical works of the 2000s.
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