Proceed, Moon

Last updated May 03, 2019

Proceed, Moon: Fantasy for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the American composer Melinda Wagner. The work was Wagner's third commission from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which first performed the piece under the conductor Susanna Mälkki at the Symphony Center, Chicago, on June 15, 2017. Wagner dedicated the score to Mälkki and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.^[1]^[2]

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.

Melinda Jane Wagner is a US composer, and winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in music. Her undergraduate degree is from Hamilton College. She received her graduates degrees from University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania. She also served as Composer-in-Residence at the University of Texas (Austin) and at the ‘Bravo!’ Vail Valley Music Festival. Some of her teachers included Richard Wernick, George Crumb, Shulamit Ran, and Jay Reise.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure in 2010. The CSO is one of five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".

Composition

Proceed, Moon has a duration of approximately 18 minutes and is cast in a single movement. The title of the piece is a quote from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream , though the composer noted that it has no programmatic meaning.^[3]

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.

William Shakespeare English playwright and poet

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595/96. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), two clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, four percussionists, harp, piano, celesta, and strings.

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.

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.

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

Reviewing the world premiere, Lawrence A. Johnson of the Chicago Classical Review called Proceed, Moon "a strong, audacious and compelling work," despite criticizing the score's duration and some of its effects.^[4] Alan Artner of the Chicago Tribune wrote:

<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.

At Thursday's final rehearsal, Wagner described the score in the terms of a tracking shot on a city street. People pass in and out of a primary figure's sphere of influence, giving the sense of hurtling activity. The atmosphere is decidedly urban, bustling and with an underlying tug of melancholy. A kind of resolution comes from a surprise electronic component I should not spoil. This works less well than Wagner intended. But Malkki and the orchestra successfully conveyed the work's intense drive as well as personal, uneasily twinkling calm.^[3]

Related Research Articles

Heimdall's Trumpet is a concerto for trumpet and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. It was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for its principal trumpeter Christopher Martin. The piece was completed January 21, 2012 and premiered December 20, 2012 at Symphony Center in Chicago.

Rhapsodies for Orchestra is a single-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was jointly commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the BBC for the Philharmonic's European tour in August and September 2008. The piece had its world premiere August 28, 2008 in Royal Albert Hall at The Proms, with the New York Philharmonic performing under conductor Lorin Maazel.

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.

The Violin Concerto is a concerto for violin and orchestra by the American composer Mason Bates. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. It was premiered December 7, 2012, with Meyers and the Pittsburgh Symphony performing under conductor Leonard Slatkin.

Liquid Interface is a symphony in four movements for electronica and orchestra by the American composer Mason Bates. The work was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and was premiered February 22, 2007 in Washington, D.C., with the orchestra led by conductor Leonard Slatkin. The piece is dedicated to composer John Corigliano.

Alternative Energy is a symphony for electronica and orchestra in four movements by the American composer Mason Bates. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for whom Bates was then composer-in-residence. It was premiered by the orchestra under conductor Riccardo Muti at Symphony Center in Chicago, February 2, 2012.

Anthology of Fantastic Zoology is an orchestral symphony by the American composer Mason Bates. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for whom Bates was then composer-in-residence. It was premiered June 18, 2015 at Symphony Center in Chicago, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing under conductor Riccardo Muti, to whom the work is dedicated. The piece is based on the eponymous book by Jorge Luis Borges.

Night Ferry is an orchestral composition in one movement by the British-born composer Anna Clyne. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for which Clyne was then composer-in-residence. It was first performed February 9, 2012 at Symphony Center, Chicago by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductor Riccardo Muti.

The Seamstress is a concerto for solo violin and orchestra by the British-born composer Anna Clyne. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for which Clyne was then composer-in-residence. It was first performed May 28, 2015 at Symphony Center, Chicago by the violinist Jennifer Koh and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductor Ludovic Morlot. The Seamstress marks the second collaboration between Clyne and Koh, who had previously premiered Clyne's double violin concerto Prince of Clouds in November 2012.

Spangled Unicorn is a composition for brass ensemble by the British-born composer Anna Clyne. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for which Clyne was then composer-in-residence. It was first performed on March 21, 2011 at Symphony Center, Chicago by the brass section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Circle Map is a composition for orchestra and electronics by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The work was jointly commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed at the Holland Festival in Gashouder, Amsterdam on June 22, 2012, by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the conductor Susanna Mälkki.

Soundings is an orchestral composition by the American composer Elliott Carter. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for their final season with the conductor Daniel Barenboim as music director. It was first performed on October 6, 2005 at the Symphony Center, Chicago, by Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei is an orchestral triptych by the American composer Elliott Carter. Its three movements were composed between 1993 and 1995. The complete work was first performed on April 25, 1998 at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Oliver Knussen. The second movement "Adagio tenebroso" was a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

The Symphony No. 6 is the sixth symphony by the American composer William Schuman. The work was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony League and was given its world premiere by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Antal Doráti on February 27, 1949.

Campane di Ravello is a short orchestral composition by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the 75th birthday of its then music director Georg Solti. Its world premiere was given by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kenneth Jean on October 9, 1987.

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.

Quickening is a cantata for countertenor, two tenors, two baritones, children's choir, chorus, and orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. The work was co-commissioned by The Proms and the Philadelphia Orchestra and was completed in 1998. Its world premiere was performed by the Hilliard Ensemble, the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, and the Westminster Cathedral Boys' Choir under the direction of Andrew Davis at Royal Albert Hall, London, on September 5, 1999. The journalist Damian Thompson of The Spectator described it as "one of MacMillan's masterpieces."

The Cello Concerto is a composition for cello and orchestra by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was co-commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Barbican Centre, and the Elbphilharmonie. It was completed in 2017 and was first performed by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Salonen on March 9, 2017. The piece is dedicated to Yo-Yo Ma.

All These Lighted Things is an orchestral composition by the American composer Elizabeth Ogonek. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for which Ogonek co-serves as Mead composer-in-residence with the composer Samuel Adams. The piece was given its world premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti on September 28, 2017.

The Low Brass Concerto is a concerto for four solo low brass instruments and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for their renowned low brass section and co-commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was composed in 2017 and was first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti on February 1, 2018.

References

↑ Huizenga, Tom (August 31, 2016). "First Impressions: A Guide To New Music In The New Season". Deceptive Cadence. NPR . Retrieved September 12, 2017.
↑ Meyer, Graham (June 14, 2017). "The best events in the area this weekend". Crain's Chicago Business . Retrieved September 12, 2017.
1 2 Artner, Alan (June 16, 2017). "Review: Susanna Malkki, Branford Marsalis lead CSO in a program with pop". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved September 12, 2017.
↑ Johnson, Lawrence A. (June 16, 2017). "Mälkki and the CSO serve up a powerful world premiere". Chicago Classical Review. Retrieved September 12, 2017.

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.

[1] Huizenga, Tom (August 31, 2016). "First Impressions: A Guide To New Music In The New Season". Deceptive Cadence. NPR . Retrieved September 12, 2017.

[2] Meyer, Graham (June 14, 2017). "The best events in the area this weekend". Crain's Chicago Business . Retrieved September 12, 2017.

[Tribune-3] 1 2 Artner, Alan (June 16, 2017). "Review: Susanna Malkki, Branford Marsalis lead CSO in a program with pop". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved September 12, 2017.

[4] Johnson, Lawrence A. (June 16, 2017). "Mälkki and the CSO serve up a powerful world premiere". Chicago Classical Review. Retrieved September 12, 2017.