Concerto Mediterraneo

Last updated

The Concerto Mediterraneo is a concerto for classical guitar and orchestra by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was completed in April 1998 and was written to commemorate the life of the Greek guitarist Sophocles Papas. It was first performed on September 17, 1998 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore by the guitarist Manuel Barrueco and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Günther Herbig. [1] [2]

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.

Classical guitar acoustic wooden guitar with wide neck, strings made of nylon

The classical guitar is a member of the guitar family used in classical music. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the acoustic and electric guitars which use metal strings. The name guitar comes from Persian language, in which Tar means string. Tar is also the name of an Iranian instrument that could be the primary form of guitar. Classical guitars are derived from the Spanish vihuela and gittern in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, which later evolved into the seventeenth and eighteenth century Baroque guitar and later the modern classical guitar in the mid nineteenth century.

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.

Contents

Composition

Background

Stucky was approached to compose the concerto as a tribute to the guitarist Sophocles Papas at the request of Papas's daughter, Elizabeth Papas Smith, and Dr. Solomon H. Snyder, a former student of Papas. Stucky began work on the piece in late 1997, composing the third movement during a stay at the Italian Riviera. He subsequently wrote the finale and introductory movements in Ithaca, New York and completed the work on April 8, 1998. [1]

Sophocles Papas was an internationally renowned classical guitar pedagogue and music publisher.

Solomon H. Snyder American neuroscientist

Solomon Halbert Snyder is an American neuroscientist who is known for wide-ranging contributions to neuropharmacology and neurochemistry. He studied at Georgetown University, and has conducted the majority of his research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Many advances in molecular neuroscience have stemmed from Dr. Snyder's identification of receptors for neurotransmitters and drugs, and elucidation of the actions of psychotropic agents, making him one of the most highly cited biologists in the world. He is most famous for his research on the opioid receptor, for which he received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1978. He is one of the most highly cited researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences, with the highest h-index in those fields for the years 1983–2002.

Italian Riviera Riviera in Liguria, Italy

The Italian Riviera, or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with France and the French Riviera near Ventimiglia to Capo Corvo which marks the eastern end of the Gulf of La Spezia and is close to the border with Tuscany. The Italian Riviera thus includes nearly all of the coastline of Liguria.

Structure

The Concerto Mediterraneo has a duration of roughly 20 minutes and is composed in four movements: [1]

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. Serenata
  2. Interludio
  3. Ciaccona notturna
  4. Finale

Instrumentation

The work is scored for solo guitar and an orchestra comprising two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two French horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, two percussionists, harp, 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 belong to the classification of double reed woodwind instruments. Oboes are usually made of wood, but there are also oboes made of synthetic materials. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. 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 the word 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

Reviewing the world premiere, Pierre Ruhe of The Washington Post lauded the concerto, writing:

<i>The Washington Post</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., with a particular emphasis on national politics and the federal government. It has the largest circulation in the Washington metropolitan area. Its slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" began appearing on its masthead in 2017. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

The 20-minute, four-movement piece rarely raises its voice above an inviting, relaxed mezzo forte. Modernist techniques in the score blend with the often lovely guitar lines and soft-edged support from the orchestra. These exquisite phrases suited Manuel Barrueco, the lightly amplified soloist, just fine. He savored the delicate and fragile touches, although much of the piece seemed unidiomatic for the guitar. Single notes and runs up the fingerboard sometimes made it sound like it could be comfortably transcribed for another instrument. Despite the title one could imagine an Asian influence in the concerto. It's a work well worth hearing again. [3]

Stephen Wigler of The Baltimore Sun was more critical, however, calling it "disappointing" and remarking, "Stucky tried to provide Barrueco with opportunities for intimacy in the first two movements by presenting the guitar in chamber-music-like settings and even in duets with other instruments. Unfortunately, it was often the scoring for the other instruments that kept the ear in anticipation." Despite this criticism, Wigler added:

<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.

My response might change upon repeated exposure to the work. I found the third movement, whose Italian subtitle translates as "nocturnal chaconne," compelling in its logic and more intriguing than earlier movements in the ways it set the guitar against the orchestra. And the composer's perpetual motion final movement provided many opportunities for Barrueco to display his remarkable virtuosity. [4]

Related Research Articles

Steven Stucky American composer

Steven Edward Stucky was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it began regular performances at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.

Manuel Barrueco is a Cuban classical guitarist. During three decades of concert performances he has performed and recorded across the United States and has been involved in many successful collaborations. In addition, he teaches at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Christopher Chapman Rouse is an American composer. Though he has written for various ensembles, Rouse is primarily known for his orchestral compositions, including a Requiem, eleven concertos, and five symphonies. His work has received numerous accolades, including the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Rouse was the composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic from 2012 to 2015.

Spirit Voices is a concerto for percussion and orchestra in seven movements by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was jointly commissioned by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival for percussionist Evelyn Glennie. It was first performed by soloist Evelyn Glennie the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under conductor Lan Shui November 14, 2003.

Piano Concerto No. 3 (Tchaikovsky) composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. posth. 75, was originally begun as a Symphony in E-flat. The composer ultimately abandoned this symphony, but, in 1893, started to rework it into a piano concerto, before abandoning all but the first movement, which he completed as a concert piece for piano and orchestra. It was published posthumously, in 1894, as a single-movement Allegro Brillante. The Symphony No. 6 Pathétique was the last of Tchaikovsky's compositions to be performed in his lifetime, but the Allegro Brillante, now known as the Piano Concerto No. 3, was his last completed composition.

<i>Andante and Finale</i> musical composition by Sergei Taneyev

The Andante and Finale is a composition for piano and orchestra that was reworked by Sergei Taneyev from sketches by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for the abandoned latter movements of his single-movement Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 75.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony in E-flat, was commenced after Symphony No. 5, and was intended initially to be the composer's next symphony. Tchaikovsky abandoned this work in 1892, only to reuse the first movement in the single-movement Third Piano Concerto, Op. 75, first performed and published after his death in 1895. Two other movements were reworked for piano and orchestra by Sergei Taneyev as the Andante and Finale, which was published as Tchaikovsky's Op. posth. 79 in 1897.

The Piano Concerto in C is a concertante work by Ralph Vaughan Williams written in 1926 and 1930-31. During the intervening years, the composer completed Job: A Masque for Dancing and began work on his Fourth Symphony. The concerto shares some thematic characteristics with these works, as well as some of their drama and turbulence.

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.

Symphony No. 2 is a symphony in three connected movements for orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The piece was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and completed July 15, 1994. The work premiered later that year and is dedicated to then Houston Symphony director Christoph Eschenbach.

The Second Concerto for Orchestra is a concerto for orchestra by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic while Stucky was their composer-in-residence for the inaugural season of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was completed in 2003 and was first performed on March 12, 2004, with the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The piece was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

The Violin Concerto is a concerto for violin and orchestra in two movements by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned for violinist Cho-Liang Lin by the Aspen Music Festival and School and funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was completed August 18, 1991 and is dedicated to Cho-Liang Lin.

<i>Concert de Gaudí</i>

Concert de Gaudí is a concerto for classical guitar and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was jointly commissioned by Norddeutscher Rundfunk and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the guitarist Sharon Isbin, with additional contributions from Richard and Jody Nordlof, to whom the piece is dedicated. It was completed August 1, 1999 and premiered in Hamburg, January 2, 2000, with Isbin and the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Orchester led by conductor Christoph Eschenbach. The piece was later awarded the 2002 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.

Incantations for Percussion and Orchestra is a concerto for percussion and orchestra in three movements by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. The work was composed for the percussionist Colin Currie on a joint commission from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. The first performance was given in Royal Festival Hall, London by Currie and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin on October 24, 2009.

The Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is a composition for solo oboe and orchestra by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts and was first performed in Carnegie Hall on November 9, 1975, by the oboist Bert Lucarelli and the American Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama.

The Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 45, is a composition for solo piano and orchestra in four movements by the American composer Amy Beach. The work was composed between September 1898 and September 1899. It was first performed in Boston on April 7, 1900, with the composer as the soloist and the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing under the conductor Wilhelm Gericke. The composition is dedicated to the musician Teresa Carreño and was the first piano concerto by an American female composer.

The Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra is a composition for two flutes and orchestra by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, for which Stucky was formerly composer-in-residence and then New Music Adviser. The piece was composed from October through December 1994 and was given its world premiere in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen on February 23, 1995.

The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is a piano concerto by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the San Antonio Symphony and was first performed on April 7, 1968 by the pianist Hilde Somer and the San Antonio Symphony under the direction of Victor Alessandro. The piece is dedicated to John Atkins.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stucky, Steven. Concerto Mediterraneo: Program Note by the Composer. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  2. Hayes, Peter (September 13, 1998). "Fall Classical Music Season". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  3. Ruhe, Pierre (September 19, 1998). "BSO's Mediterranean Moment". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  4. Wigler, Stephen (September 19, 1998). "Premiere of guitar work disappoints". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved July 25, 2015.