Elegy (Corigliano)

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Elegy is an orchestral composition by the American composer John Corigliano. It was first performed by the San Francisco Symphony under the direction Verne Sellin at the War Memorial Opera House on June 1, 1966. The piece is dedicated to the composer Samuel Barber. [1] [2]

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 instruments such as trumpet, trombone and tuba, woodwinds such as flutes, oboe and bassoon and percussion instruments such as the triangle,snare drum and cymbals, 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.

John Paul Corigliano is an American composer of classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and an Oscar. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and on the composition faculty at the Juilliard School.

San Francisco Symphony symphonic orchestra

The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra is resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the City's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus (1972) are part of the organization. Since 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas has been the orchestra's music director. Tilson Thomas is scheduled to conclude his tenure as the orchestra's music director in 2020, when Esa-Pekka Salonen is scheduled to become the orchestra's next music director.

Contents

Composition

Elegy is composed in a single movement and has a duration of roughly 7 minutes. The work is based on an incidental score Corigliano wrote for an Off-Broadway production of Wallace Frey's play Helen; the music is specifically derived from a love scene between the titular character Helen of Troy and her young lover Telemachus. The composer wrote in the score program notes, "The brief work, set at a single slow tempo, begins quickly with a key passage for paired flutes, builds during its course to two double forte climaxes for full orchestra, and finally subsides for a pianissimo close for strings and woodwinds. Stylistically, as the dedication to Samuel Barber might suggest, the work identifies itself with neo-romantic American style, typified in a diversity of works by Barber himself, Walter Piston, or William Schuman." [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.

An Off-Broadway theatre is any professional venue in Manhattan in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than Off-Off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer than 100.

Helen of Troy daughter of Zeus in Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta but was abducted by Prince Paris of Troy after the goddess Aphrodite promised her to him in the Judgement of Paris. This resulted in the Trojan War when the Achaeans set out to reclaim her. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Polydeuces, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes (1st doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, trumpet, bass trombone, timpani, percussion, piano, 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

Steve Metcalf of the Hartford Courant described the piece as "haunting." [3] Peter Dickinson of Gramophone wrote, "Elegy provides early evidence that the mantle of Samuel Barber, to whom it is dedicated, would fall on Corigliano." He added, "Both composers contradicted fashions by querying any necessity for their music to be difficult." [4]

<i>Hartford Courant</i> Connecticut newspaper

The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is often recognized as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury, its headquarters on Broad Street are a short walk from the state capitol. It reports regional news with a chain of bureaus in smaller cities and a series of local editions. It also operates CTNow, a free local weekly newspaper and website.

<i>Gramophone</i> (magazine) UK monthly magazine published in London devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings

Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie. It was acquired by Haymarket in 1999. In 2013 the Mark Allen Group became the publisher.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Corigliano, John (1965). Elegy: Program Note. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  2. ↑ Corigliano, John (1965). "Elegy". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  3. ↑ Metcalf, Steve (November 28, 1996). "Album Review -- I Fiamminghi, The Orchestra Of Flanders Conducted By Rudolf Werthen -- John Corigliano: To Music". Hartford Courant . Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  4. ↑ Dickinson, Peter (March 1997). "Corigliano Creations". Gramophone . Retrieved May 31, 2016.
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