Flute Concerto (Rorem)

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The Flute Concerto is a composition for solo flute and orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and was composed between August 2001 and May 2002. Its world premiere was given by the flutist Jeffrey Khaner and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Roberto Abbado at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on December 4, 2003. [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.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, and double bass, brass instruments such as the horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba, woodwinds such as the flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, and percussion instruments such as the timpani, bass drum, 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.

Ned Rorem is an American composer and diarist. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976 for his Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra.

Contents

Composition

Structure

The piece has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is cast in six 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. The Stone Tower
  2. Leaving – Traveling – Hoping
  3. Sirens
  4. Hymn
  5. False Waltz
  6. Résumé and Prayer

Rorem commented on the movement titles in the score program notes, writing, "I don't believe that non-vocal music can be proved to "mean" anything precise, like Love or Death or Fright, much less Yellow or Tuesday or Lake. But sometimes it's helpful and fun to ascribe (usually after the fact) names to separate movements." He continued:

Thus the six subtitles are 1. "The Stone Tower," a studio at Yaddo where the music was written; 2. "Leaving–Traveling–Hoping," made up of two short tunes surrounding a long poem; 3. "Sirens," an ambling succession of melodies and ripples; 4. "Hymn," an interlude for just five instruments; 5. "False Waltz," a rollicking affair shaped like a pyramid (soft to loud to soft); 6. "Résumé and Prayer" is just that: a cadenza reviving briefly all the foregoing matter, and closing on a very quiet note. [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo flute and an orchestra comprising two additional flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, piano, harp, and strings. [1]

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.

Bassoon musical instrument

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature. It is known for its distinctive tone colour, wide range, variety of character, and agility. One who plays the bassoon is called a bassoonist.

Reception

Reviewing a recording of the piece paired with Rorem's Violin Concerto and Pilgrims, Peter Dickinson of Gramophone wrote, "This is relaxed and indulgent music, even if these works are not the best from this now grand old man of American music." [2] John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune similarly described it as an "inventively quirky mosaic of instrumental songs without words." [3]

The Violin Concerto is a composition for solo violin and chamber orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was commissioned by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra for the violinist Jaime Laredo and composed in 1984. It was first performed by Laredo and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Gutter in the Symphony Hall, Springfield, on March 30, 1985.

<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.

<i>Chicago Tribune</i> major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It is the eighth-largest newspaper in the United States by circulation.

Related Research Articles

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.

Violin Concerto (Beethoven) concerto by Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, in 1806. Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in 1844 by Joseph Joachim. Since then it has become one of the best-known violin concertos.

A clarinet-violin-piano trio is a standardized chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one violin, and one piano participating in relatively equal roles, or the name of a piece written for such a group.

Jeffrey Khaner is the principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also served as principal flutist with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Mr. Khaner teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Lynn University Conservatory of Music. In September, 2012 he launched the Online Classical Flute School with Jeffrey Khaner through ArtistWorks.

William Jay Sydeman is an American composer. Born in New York, he studied at the Mannes School of Music, where he later taught composition (1960–1970). Winning early acclaim for his avant-garde music, he felt trapped by the prevailing orthodoxies and moved to California in 1970, beginning a period of wandering during which he also studied Buddhism and Anthroposophy. He joined ASCAP in 1975. In 1981 he settled in Sacramento and resumed composition at his former prolific rate, having newly embraced a neotonal musical language. He currently resides in Mendocino.

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.

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The Flute Concerto is a concerto for flute and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was jointly commissioned by Richard and Jody Nordlof for flutist Carol Wincenc and by Borders Group for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It was completed August 15, 1993 and premiered October 27, 1994 at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, with conductor Hans Vonk leading Carol Wincenc and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The piece—specifically the third movement—is dedicated to the memory of James Bulger, an English toddler who was infamously murdered in 1993 by two ten-year-old boys.

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.

The Violin Concerto is a concerto for violin and orchestra in three movements by the American composer Elliott Carter. The work was jointly commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and the violinist Ole Bøhn. It was completed February 26, 1990 in Waccabuc, New York, and was premiered May 2, 1990 in San Francisco, with conductor Herbert Blomstedt leading Bøhn and the San Francisco Symphony. The piece won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Concerto 4-3 is a concerto for two violins, double bass, and orchestra in three movements by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned for the string trio Time for Three by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed in Philadelphia on January 10, 2008, by Time for Three and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

The Mallet Concerto is a concerto for mallet percussion instruments and chamber orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. It was first performed by the percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the Madison Symphony Orchestra under the conductor John DeMain in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 27, 2004.

The Cello Concerto is a concerto for solo cello and orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was commissioned by the Residentie Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony for the cellist David Geringas. Its world premiere was given by Geringas and the Kansas City Symphony under the direction of Michael Stern on March 28, 2003.

The Symphony No. 3 is a composition for orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was first performed by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein at Carnegie Hall on April 16, 1959.

The Piano Concerto No. 4 for Left Hand and Orchestra is the fourth piano concerto by the American composer Ned Rorem. It was commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music for the pianist Gary Graffman. The work was first performed by Graffman and the Curtis Institute of Music Orchestra conducted by André Previn at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on February 4, 1993. Its New York City premiere was performed the next day by the same ensemble at Carnegie Hall. A then-unknown Hilary Hahn performed a solo violin section for both performances.

The Double Concerto is a composition for violin, cello, and orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and composed between July 27, 1997 and April 1998. It was composed for the violinist Jaime Laredo and the cellist Sharon Robinson, who first performed the piece with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Raymond Leppard in Indianapolis on October 15, 1998.

The Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra is a composition for solo English horn and orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the orchestra's sesquicentennial anniversary. It was first performed by the soloist Thomas Stacy and the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur at Avery Fisher Hall on January 27, 1994. Rorem dedicated the piece to Thomas Stacy. The work is one of the few prominent contemporary English horn concertos, along with James MacMillan's The World's Ransoming.

Air Music is a set of ten variations for orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was completed in 1974 and was first performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on December 5, 1975. The piece won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rorem, Ned (2002). "Flute Concerto". Boosey & Hawkes . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  2. ↑ Dickinson, Peter (August 2006). "Rorem Flute Concerto; Violin Concerto". Gramophone . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ von Rhein, John (June 30, 2006). "Rorem: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
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