Sequoia (composition)

Last updated
Sequoia
by Joan Tower
PerformedMay 18, 1981

Sequoia is an orchestral composition by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra with support from the Jerome Foundation. It was first performed on May 18, 1981, in Alice Tully Hall by the American Composers Orchestra under the conductor Dennis Russell Davies. The piece is dedicated to the concertmistress and first horn player of the orchestra, Jean and Paul Ingraham, respectively. [1] Sequoia was Tower's first major orchestral composition and remains one of the composer's most performed works. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Composition

Sequoia has a duration of roughly 16 minutes and is composed in three continuous movements. The music is abstractly inspired by the genus of redwood coniferous trees called sequoias of the Northern California coastal forests. Tower described her influences in the score program notes, writing:

Long ago, I recognized Beethoven as someone bound to enter my work at some point, because for many years I had been intimately involved in both his piano music and chamber music as a pianist. Even though my own music does not sound like Beethoven's in any obvious way, in it there is a basic idea at work which came from him. This is something I call the "balancing" of musical energies. In Sequoia, that concept is not only very much present in the score but it actually led to the title (which is meant in an abstract rather than a pictorial sense). What fascinated me about sequoias, those giant California redwood trees, was the balancing act nature had achieved in giving them such great height. [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra comprising two flutes (both doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, five percussionists, piano (doubling celesta), and strings. [1]

Reception

Peter G. Davis of New York gave Sequoia modest praise, writing:

There is nothing startlingly original about Tower's score—in its content, structure, or instrumentation—but surely we are beyond the stage when every fresh statement by a composer must be completely without precedent. This music suggests techniques of Bartók, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Prokofiev, and other past masters, but the influences have been smoothly digested and Tower has unquestionably added a vital voice all her own. [...] What gives Sequoia its expressive individuality, I suspect, is the strong poetic impulse that motivates the notes as they translate a visual image into sound. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orchestration</span> Study or practice of writing music for an orchestra

Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orchestration is the assignment of different instruments to play the different parts of a musical work. For example, a work for solo piano could be adapted and orchestrated so that an orchestra could perform the piece, or a concert band piece could be orchestrated for a symphony orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark-Anthony Turnage</span> English composer (born 1960)

Mark-Anthony Turnage is an English composer of contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Tower</span> American composer, concert pianist and conductor

Joan Tower is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by The New Yorker as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time", her bold and energetic compositions have been performed in concert halls around the world. After gaining recognition for her first orchestral composition, Sequoia (1981), a tone poem which structurally depicts a giant tree from trunk to needles, she has gone on to compose a variety of instrumental works including Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, which is something of a response to Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, the Island Prelude, five string quartets, and an assortment of other tone poems. Tower was pianist and founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players, which commissioned and premiered many of her early works, including her widely performed Petroushskates.

<i>Serenada Schizophrana</i> 2006 studio album by Danny Elfman

Serenada Schizophrana is a suite of six symphonic movements written by American film composer Danny Elfman in 2004. It was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, which premiered the work at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23, 2005, conducted by Stephen Sloane. A studio recording was released on October 3, 2006, with John Mauceri conducting the Hollywood Studio Symphony orchestra. Album art was done by George Condo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtures by Hector Berlioz</span> Instrumental works

French composer Hector Berlioz wrote a number of "overtures", many of which have become popular concert works. They include true overtures, intended to introduce operas, but also independent concert overtures that are in effect the first orchestral tone poems.

The Violin Concerto is a composition for solo violin and orchestra by the American composer Joan Tower. It was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition and the Snowbird Institute. The piece was first performed by the violinist Elmar Oliveira and the Utah Symphony under the conductor Joseph Silverstein on April 24, 1992, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is dedicated to the violinist Elmar Oliveira. The composition was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Stroke is an orchestral composition by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to the composer's brother, who suffered from a debilitating stroke in 2008. It was first performed in Pittsburgh on May 13, 2011, by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Manfred Honeck.

Made in America is an orchestral composition in one movement by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was jointly commissioned by the League of American Orchestras and Meet the Composer. It was first performed in Glens Falls, New York by the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra in October 2005.

The Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was jointly commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

Silver Ladders is an orchestral composition by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was jointly commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony and Meet the Composer while Tower was composer-in-residence with the St. Louis Symphony. It was first performed in St. Louis on January 9, 1987, by the St. Louis Symphony under the conductor Leonard Slatkin. The piece is dedicated to Slatkin with "admiration for his unswerving musical integrity and confidence in presenting the music of his own time."

The Concerto for Clarinet is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation for the clarinetist Charles Neidich, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Purple Rhapsody is a viola concerto by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was jointly commissioned by the Omaha Symphony Orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra with a grant from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress. It was first performed on November 4, 2005, by the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and the violist Paul Neubauer, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Strike Zones is a concerto for percussion and orchestra by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra through a grant by the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund. It was first performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on October 4, 2001, by the percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the National Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Leonard Slatkin.

Tambor is an orchestral composition in one movement by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and was composed between September 1997 and February 1998. It was first performed on May 7, 1998, by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Mariss Jansons. The piece is dedicated Robert Moir, then artistic director for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Vocalise is a composition for soprano, electronics, and orchestra by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur with financial contributions from the Francis Goelet Fund. It was given its world premiere by the soprano Sylvia McNair and the New York Philharmonic under Masur at Avery Fisher Hall on November 11, 1999. The piece is dedicated to Sylvia McNair.

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.

Red Garuda for Piano and Orchestra is the second piano concerto by the American composer Peter Lieberson. The work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was composed between 1998 and 1999. Like Lieberson's first Piano Concerto, it was written for the pianist Peter Serkin, who first performed the work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa on October 14, 1999. The piece is dedicated to Peter Serkin and Seiji Ozawa.

The Concerto for Piano is the first piano concerto by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Virtuosi with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Its world premiere was performed by the pianist Jacquelyn M. Helin and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic conducted by Imre Palló on January 31, 1986. The music contains numerous allusions to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, in whose memory it is dedicated.

Gathering Paradise is a song cycle for soprano and orchestra set to the poetry of Emily Dickinson by the American composer Augusta Read Thomas. It was written in 2004 on a commission by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Lorin Maazel, both to which the piece is dedicated "with admiration and gratitude." Its world premiere was performed by the soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Maazel in Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, on September 29, 2004.

1920/2019 is an orchestral composition written by the American composer Joan Tower. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic as part of "Project 19," an initiative commissioning new works by 19 female composers in honor of the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Its world premiere, though delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was given by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Jaap van Zweden at Alice Tully Hall on December 3, 2021. The piece is dedicated to the New York Philharmonic president and CEO Deborah Borda "in recognition of her vision for the creation of Project 19."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tower, Joan (1981). "Sequoia". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ Goodfellow, William S. (April 19, 1992). "Joan Tower: 'Celestial-Like Tune' For Violin Will Premiere In S.L." Deseret News . Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Davis, Peter G. (January 24, 1994). "Elektra Switch". New York . Vol. 27, no. 4. pp. 79–80. ISSN   0028-7369.
  4. ↑ Gutman, David (April 2000). "Tower Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman: Fans of American music will love Tower's dynamism and directness, which help to disguise a lack of thematic invention". Gramophone . Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  5. ↑ Davis, Peter G. (October 11, 1982). "Minorities, Minimalism, and Melodrama". New York . Vol. 15, no. 40. pp. 90–92. ISSN   0028-7369.

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.