Concerto for Orchestra (Neikrug)

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The Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the American composer Marc Neikrug. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and was completed in May 2011. It was given its world premiere by the New York Philharmonic under the conductor Alan Gilbert at Avery Fisher Hall on April 26, 2012. The concerto is dedicated to Alan Gilbert. [1] [2] [3]

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.

Marc Edward Neikrug is a contemporary American composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in New York City, the son of cellists George Neikrug and Olga Zundel. He is best known for a Piano Concerto (1966), the theater piece Through Roses (1980), and the opera Los Alamos (1988). Among his notable recent compositions are the orchestral song cycle Healing Ceremony (2010), his Concerto for Orchestra (2012), a Bassoon Concerto (2013), and the Canta-Concerto (2014). He studied with Giselher Klebe at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold from 1964 to 1968, and composition at Stony Brook University. In 1978 he was appointed as consultant on contemporary music to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Since the late 1990s he has been Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He is also known for collaborations with violinist Pinchas Zukerman.

New York Philharmonic American symphony orchestra in New York, NY

The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Contents

Composition

The Concerto for Orchestra has a duration of roughly 30 minutes and is composed in three 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. First movement
  2. Scherzo
  3. Adagio

Neikrug described the piece in the score program notes, writing, "It is meant to feature the great virtuoso orchestra. While the composition is rigorously structured from basic unifying elements, it is intended as a show piece. The musical core of the piece is a series of chords constructed from expanding intervals. These same expanding intervals form the basis of the melodic structure of the piece." [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra comprising three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling cor anglais), three clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinet), three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, three percussionists, harp, celesta, 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 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

Reception

Allan Kozinn of The New York Times gave the Concerto for Orchestra modest praise, writing:

Allan Kozinn is an American journalist, music critic, and teacher.

<i>The New York Times</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper based in New York City

The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.

Mr. Neikrug seemed intent on putting every one of the orchestra's sections and subsections in the spotlight, sometimes for brief bursts within a stream of morphing timbres, often for extended, shapely passages in a style that oscillated between neo-Romanticism and Impressionism. He seemed especially engaged by the possibilities for percussionists, and when they were not featured on their own, they were combined with woodwinds and brasses or jangled beneath suave string lines.

Kozinn nevertheless added:

But having focused so thoroughly on putting the musicians on display, Mr. Neikrug neglected the other part of a composer's job, which is to say something memorable. Often it seemed as if he were rummaging through a toy box, shaking this and striking that, then moving on blithely to the next thing. Without a strong thematic thread — think of the high-profile themes in Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra — even virtuosity eventually pales. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Neikrug, Marc (2011). "Concerto for Orchestra". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ D'Addario, Daniel (March 13, 2012). "Spring Preview: The Season's Top Ten Music Events". The New York Observer . Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Batiashvili, Mozart and a World Premiere". WQXR-FM. May 24, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (April 27, 2012). "Every Instrument Has the Spotlight: The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall". The New York Times . Retrieved February 22, 2016.
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