Symphony (Stucky)

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The Symphony by the American composer Steven Stucky is a four-movement symphony for orchestra. The work was jointly commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was composed from January through July 2012 and premiered September 28, 2012 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, with conductor Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. [1] [2] The work had its New York City premiere November 29, 2012, with Alan Gilbert leading the New York Philharmonic. [3]

Steven Stucky American composer

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

Symphony extended musical composition

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often written by composers for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are scored for strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30–100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. A small number of symphonies also contain vocal parts.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which mixes instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, 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.

Contents

Composition

The symphony has a duration of approximately twenty minutes and is composed in four connected 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. Introduction and Hymn
  2. Outcry
  3. Flying
  4. Hymn and Reconciliation

Stucky had previously written four other symphonies, but has since withdrawn all of them, saying, "I wrote two when I was a little boy, and I have no idea what unholy mash-up those were. Then I wrote a symphony when I was a senior in college, and then one for my doctoral thesis, and I'm sure those have been completely expunged from the record." He therefore remarked "It was not sensible to call this piece Symphony No. 5" and elected to simply title the new work "Symphony." [2] Stucky also described the piece as "old fashioned" and said, "It has recognizable themes which come back. That links it to the traditional form." [4] The work is dedicated to the flutist Mimi Stillman. [5]

Mimi Stillman is a prominent concert flutist. She has been hailed by The New York Times as "a consummate and charismatic performer." Called "the coolest flute player" by Philadelphia Magazine, she is critically acclaimed for her dazzling artistry and communicative powers. A Yamaha Performing Artist, she has appeared as soloist with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Hilton Head Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chávez, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Orchestra 2001, Ocean City Pops, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, and Curtis Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared as recitalist and chamber musician at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Bard College, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Bay Chamber Concerts (ME), Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Israeli radio Kol HaMusica, National Sawdust, Roulette, and Festival delle Nazioni (Italy).

Reception

Reviewing the New York City premiere, Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times praised the accessibility of the Symphony and called it "a fairly modest piece, a 20-minute, colorfully orchestrated work in four parts, played without break." Despite giving the piece an overall positive review, Tommasini nevertheless opined, "Mr. Stucky perhaps achieved his goal of writing a graspable symphony too well. I was engrossed in the work right through, and Mr. Gilbert drew an exciting performance from the orchestra. But the music may give away its secrets too readily." [3]

Anthony "Tony" Tommasini is chief music critic for The New York Times, and has authored three books.

<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.

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Dreamwaltzes is an orchestral composition by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra for their annual Sommerfest series with support from the Jerome Foundation. The piece was completed in April 1986 and its world premiere was given by the Minnesota Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin on July 17, 1986. It is dedicated to the violinist Sonya Monosoff and Carl Pancaldo. The piece brought Stucky to prominence in the contemporary classical community and remains one of his most popular compositions.

References

  1. ↑ "'Symphony' by Steven Stucky". Los Angeles Times . September 26, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ng, David (September 26, 2012). "Steven Stucky marks return to L.A. with his very own 'Symphony'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Tommasini, Anthony (November 30, 2012). "A New Work Bares Its Secrets, With Feeling". The New York Times . Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ Oksenhorn, Stewart (July 21, 2013). "Music Festival: A new start for new music in Aspen". The Aspen Times . Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic: New York Philharmonic 2012–13 Season" (PDF). New York Philharmonic . 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
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