Parada (Lindberg)

Last updated

Parada is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The piece was composed for the music festival Related Rocks which celebrates the works of Lindberg and related composers. Its world premiere was given at The Anvil, Basingstoke on February 6, 2002 by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen, to whom the work is dedicated. [1] [2]

Contents

Composition

Parada is composed in a single slow movement and has a duration of approximately 13 minutes.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon), four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, two percussionists, harp, piano (doubling celesta), and strings. [1]

Reception

Parada has been praised by music critics. Reviewing the world premiere, Fiona Maddocks of The Observer opined, "Parada, part of the Related Rocks festival, is an expansive, mainly slow (unusual for Lindberg) single movement. It opens with lush, dream-like massed strings, muted and using vibrato. Within this slow trajectory, moments of rapid action and clarity - brass explosions and woodwind ripples - unsettle the hazy stillness, dying away with simple cello pizzicatos. Lindberg achieves luminous orchestral effects, holding the sounds poised as if centrifugally. The Philharmonia, now well groomed in his style, made masterly work of its subtleties." [2] Reviewing the United States premiere by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Magnus Lindberg's Parada begins with a slow parade of chords. They are somber but colorful. They move with solemn grace, like ghostly visions floating through a fog. And when you have resonant chords like these--complex and new, yet somehow familiar-sounding, cloaked in beautiful sonorities, awash in mystery--you have a pretty good sense that something special is about to follow in their wake." He added, "It is a weighty slow movement, with lots of fast things happening on the surface and distant hints of Sibelius." [3] Anne Midgette of The Washington Post called it "an attractive braid of music created by winding two disparate ideas - a fast scherzo and the slow shimmer of strings - into a single whole, now full, now slender, set off with gleaming beads of percussion, tapering at the end to something gentle and warm." She added, "It took a big orchestra, including a full complement of percussion, but felt light." [4]

However, reviewing a recording of the piece alongside other Lindberg works, the magazine Gramophone was somewhat critical of the piece, remarking, "Parada‚ the slowestmoving of these scores‚ is also the most frankly Sibelian‚ full of gestures and textures redolent of the inescapable Finnish master. While its ravishing invention is easy to enjoy‚ I wasn't sure how it was meant to hold together‚ so this may or may not be the place to start for the uninitiated." [5]

Recording

A commercial recording of Parada, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Salonen, was released through Sony Classical Records in 2002. The album also features Lindberg's Cantigas , Cello Concerto No. 1, and Fresco . [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

Esa-Pekka Salonen Finnish orchestral conductor and composer

Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

Magnus Lindberg

Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the beginning of the 2014–15 season.

Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn) Composition by Felix Mendelssohn, 1844

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, is his last large orchestral work. It holds an important place in the violin repertoire and is one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos in history. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.

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 Piano Concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra in three movements by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, the BBC, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, and Radio France. It was premiered February 1, 2007 in Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, with Salonen conducting the pianist Yefim Bronfman and the New York Philharmonic. Salonen dedicated the piece to Yefim Bronfman.

Nyx is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by Radio France, the Barbican Centre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, and the Finnish Broadcasting Company. It was premiered February 19, 2011 in the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, with Salonen conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. The piece is titled after the Goddess Nyx from Greek mythology.

L.A. Variations is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, of which Salonen was then music director. It was first performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, January 16, 1997, with Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The piece is dedicated to the orchestra, about which Salonen remarked, "I wrote LA Variations specifically for the players of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I'm very proud of the virtuosity and power of my orchestra."

Foreign Bodies is an orchestral composition in three movements by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company and was first performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival on August 12, 2001 by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

Insomnia is a single-movement orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was composed between March and November 2002 and was first performed on December 1, 2002 by the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Salonen.

Maan varjot is a composition for solo organ and orchestra by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The work was jointly commissioned by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre national de Lyon, Southbank Centre, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. It was first performed in Montreal on May 29, 2014, by the organist Olivier Latry and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Kent Nagano.

The Violin Concerto No. 1 is a composition for solo violin and orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the Mostly Mozart Festival and was composed in 2006. It was given its world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall on August 22, 2006 by the violinist Lisa Batiashvili and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra under the direction of Louis Langrée.

The Cello Concerto No. 2 is the second cello concerto by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in June 2013 to fill the planned premiere date of Oliver Knussen's then delayed Cello Concerto. The work was first performed in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, on October 18, 2013 by the Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the BBC and was composed between 2002 and 2003. It was given its world premiere by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jukka-Pekka Saraste on September 30, 2003 at the Barbican Centre, London.

The Cello Concerto No. 1 is a composition for solo cello and orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was first performed in the Cité de la Musique, Paris on May 6, 1999 by the cellist Anssi Karttunen and the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Kraft is a composition for solo ensemble, electronics, and orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the Helsinki Festival and was first performed on September 4, 1985 by the Toimii ensemble and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. The piece was awarded the International Rostrum of Composers in 1986 and won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1988.

Fresco is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Its world premiere was given in Los Angeles on March 12, 1998 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Al largo is a composition for orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic while Lindberg served as the orchestra's composer-in-residence. Its world premiere was given by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Alan Gilbert at Avery Fisher Hall on June 23, 2010.

Sculpture is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The music was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with support from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation to celebrate the orchestra's inaugural season at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Its world premiere was given by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen on October 6, 2005.

Cantigas is an orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The work was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra and was composed between 1998 and early 1999. Its world premiere was performed in Cleveland by the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi on April 1, 1999.

Karawane is a composition for chorus and orchestra by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic with support from the philanthropist Marie-Josée Kravis, the Bamberg Symphony, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed by the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie conducted by Lionel Bringuier in the Tonhalle, Zürich, on September 10, 2014. The piece is set to the eponymous poem by the German author and Dadaist Hugo Ball.

References

  1. 1 2 Lindberg, Magnus (2001). "Parada". Boosey & Hawkes . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Maddocks, Fiona (9 February 2002). "It's like the South Bank, only there's more concrete". The Observer . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  3. ↑ Swed, Mark (April 6, 2002). "Lindberg Pinch-Hits for Kirchner in Phil's Lineup". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  4. ↑ Midgette, Anne (November 19, 2010). "Susanna Malkki makes gentle, assured music with National Symphony". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Lindberg, M Orchestral Works". Gramophone . June 2002. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Lindberg: Cantigas; Cello Concerto; Parada; Fresco". BBC Music Magazine . 20 January 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.