Jeu de timbres

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Jeu de timbres is a single-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and completed in late 2003. It was premiered in January 2004, with the National Symphony Orchestra performing under conductor Leonard Slatkin. [1]

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.

Steven Stucky American composer

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

National Symphony Orchestra American symphony orchestra based in Washington, DC

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C.. Its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Contents

Composition

Jeu de timbres has a duration of roughly four minutes. It was originally commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra as an encore piece for a 2004 French music festival. Therefore, Stucky drew inspiration for the piece from the music of such Impressionist composers as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel—even directly quoting an unspecified Ravel piece near the end of the composition. The title Jeu de timbres loosely translates from the French language to "play of colors" and is a regular French phrase for the glockenspiel, which is occasionally featured in the piece. [1] [2]

Impressionism in music was a movement among various composers in Western classical music whose music focuses on suggestion and atmosphere, "conveying the moods and emotions aroused by the subject rather than a detailed tone‐picture". "Impressionism" is a philosophical and aesthetic term borrowed from late 19th-century French painting after Monet's Impression, Sunrise. Composers were labeled impressionists by analogy to the impressionist painters who use starkly contrasting colors, effect of light on an object, blurry foreground and background, flattening perspective, etc. to make the observer focus his attention on the overall impression.

Claude Debussy 19th and 20th-century French classical composer

Achille-Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Maurice Ravel French composer

Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.

Reception

Allan Kozinn of The New York Times praised the piece, describing it as "packed with shimmering string and woodwind textures yet with a changeability and bite that are among the most recognizable hallmarks of Mr. Stucky’s music." [3] However, James Roy MacBean of Berkeley Daily Planet was slightly more critical, opining that it "jammed a vast variety of orchestral colors into too small a musical space to do anything noteworthy." [4] Reviewing a 2014 performance with the San Francisco Symphony, music critic Kevin Chen remarked that the work "truly elicited a visual response, as [conductor] Valcuha and the orchestra brought almost a film-score atmosphere to the hall. Ultimately, the piece drew a few early standing ovations and whistles, and it was noted that the glockenspiel player in particular seemed to be having a lot of fun." [5]

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.

The Berkeley Daily Planet was a free weekly newspaper published in Berkeley, California, which continues today as an internet-based news publication.

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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.

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References

  1. 1 2 Stucky, Steven (2003). Jeu de timbres, for orchestra: Program Note by the Composer. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. ↑ Oettle, Colin (October 1, 2009). "Exclusive: Interview With Steven Stucky". The Sound Post. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (June 13, 2012). "New Composers and New Sounds Converge in Buffalo". The New York Times . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ MacBean, James Roy (October 16, 2014). "Garrick Ohlsson Plays Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto with San Francisco Symphony". Berkeley Daily Planet . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  5. ↑ Chen, Kevin (October 12, 2014). "San Francisco Symphony — Adventure, Dissonance, and Control". Peninsula Reviews. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
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