Symphony No. 1 (Rouse)

Last updated

Symphony No. 1 is a symphony in one movement by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, completed on August 26, 1986, and premiered in Baltimore, January 21, 1988. The piece is dedicated to Rouse's friend and fellow composer, John Harbison. [1]

Contents

Composition

The symphony is composed in a single adagio movement and has a duration of approximately 27 minutes. The work was conceived, in part, as a companion to Rouse's 1984 orchestral piece Gorgon . [1]

Style and influences

The music quotes Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7. In the program notes to the score, Rouse commented on his inspirations and the use of Bruckner, saying, "In my Symphony No. 1 I have attempted to pay conscious homage to many of those I especially admire as composers of adagios -- Shostakovich, Sibelius, Hartmann, Pettersson, and Schuman, for example -- recognizably quoted are the famous opening theme from the second movement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, played both in the original and here by a quartet of Wagner Tubas) and the climax of Allan Pettersson's 6th Symphony, where the high violins come down from another harmonic tune than the rest of the orchestra to melt down and merge with it (19m of 27)." [1]

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for two flutes (2nd doubling on piccolo), two oboes (2nd doubling on oboe d'amore and English horn), two clarinets (2nd doubling on bass clarinet), two bassoons (2nd doubling on contrabassoon), four French horns (all doubling Wagner Tubas), three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (three players), and strings (violins I & II, violas, violoncellos, and double basses). [1]

Reception

Music critic David Hurwitz described the work as "wholly gripping and vividly contrasted despite the slow pacing and prevailing gloomy atmosphere." [2] Reviewing the 1992 Los Angeles premiere of the symphony, Daniel Cariaga of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "In the 27 intense minutes of this L.A. premiere performance, the Symphony sometimes loudly achieved a finally quiet victory over pessimism, all the while engaging the observer in its progress to that not-predictable end. [Rouse] calls this piece tonal, and it may be, if one counts the number of bars in which consonance, rather than grating dissonance, holds sway. But what one remembers is the bite of atonality on the way to sound-resolutions in this gripping, abstract musical scenario." [3]

Conversely, Calum MacDonald of BBC Music Magazine was less favorable, describing the work as "inhabiting a blackness somewhere beyond Shostakovich and Pettersson" and adding, "the single-movement First Symphony (1986) takes a familiar theme from Bruckner’s Seventh and subjects its aspiration to all manner of ironic and negative underminings and reversals, ending in exhausted elegy." [4]

The symphony won the first place 1988 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. [5]

Related Research Articles

The Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77, was originally composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1947–48. He was still working on the piece at the time of the Zhdanov Doctrine, and it could not be performed in the period following the composer's denunciation. In the time between the work's initial completion and the first performance, the composer, sometimes with the collaboration of its dedicatee, David Oistrakh, worked on several revisions. The concerto was finally premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky on 29 October 1955. It was well-received, Oistrakh remarking on the "depth of its artistic content" and describing the violin part as a "pithy 'Shakespearian' role."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 2 (Prokofiev)</span> 1925 symphony by Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40, in Paris in 1924-25, during what he called "nine months of frenzied toil". He characterized this symphony as a work of "iron and steel".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 7 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major, WAB 107, is one of the composer's best-known symphonies. It was written between 1881 and 1883 and was revised in 1885. It is dedicated to Ludwig II of Bavaria. The premiere, given under Arthur Nikisch and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the opera house at Leipzig on 30 December 1884, brought Bruckner the greatest success he had known in his life. The symphony is sometimes referred to as the "Lyric", though the appellation is not the composer's own, and is seldom used.

Christopher Chapman Rouse III was an American composer. Though he wrote for various ensembles, Rouse is primarily known for his orchestral compositions, including a Requiem, a dozen concertos, and six symphonies. His work received numerous accolades, including the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He also served as the composer-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic from 2012 to 2015.

The Trombone Concerto is a concerto for trombone and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its principal trombonist Joseph Alessi. It was completed on April 5, 1991, and was first performed by Alessi and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Slatkin on December 30, 1992, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York City. The concerto is dedicated to the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who died suddenly October 14, 1990. In 1993, the work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Symphony No. 2 is a symphony in three connected movements for orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The piece was commissioned by the Houston Symphony and completed July 15, 1994. The work premiered later that year and is dedicated to then Houston Symphony director Christoph Eschenbach.

Rapture is an orchestral composition in one movement by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and was completed January 9, 2000. It is dedicated to then Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra music director Mariss Jansons and premiered in May 2000.

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.

The Clarinet Concerto is a concerto for clarinet and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its principal clarinetist Larry Combs by the Institute for American Music. It was completed December 11, 2000 and premiered May 17, 2001 at Symphony Center in Chicago with Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The piece is dedicated to Rouse's friend and fellow composer Augusta Read Thomas.

The Flute Concerto is a concerto for flute and orchestra by American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was jointly commissioned by Richard and Jody Nordlof for flautist Carol Wincenc and by Borders Group for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It was completed August 15, 1993 and premiered on October 27, 1994 at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, with conductor Hans Vonk leading Carol Wincenc and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The piece's third movement is dedicated to the memory of James Bulger, an English toddler who was murdered in 1993 by two ten-year-old boys.

Der gerettete Alberich is a concerto for percussion and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was jointly commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It was completed June 7, 1997, and premiered January 15, 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio with the Cleveland Orchestra under conductor Christoph von Dohnányi. The piece is dedicated to percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who performed the solo during the world premiere. Rouse composed the work as an informal musical sequel to Richard Wagner's four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The Concerto for Orchestra is an orchestral composition by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and is dedicated to conductor and frequent Rouse collaborator Marin Alsop. The piece was completed February 24, 2008 and premiered at the festival August 1, 2008, with Marin Alsop leading the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra.

The Violin Concerto is a concerto for violin and orchestra in two movements by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned for violinist Cho-Liang Lin by the Aspen Music Festival and School and funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was completed August 18, 1991 and is dedicated to Cho-Liang Lin.

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.

Envoi is a single-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with additional contributions from Thurmond Smithgall. It was first performed May 9, 1996 in Atlanta Symphony Hall, Atlanta by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under conductor Yoel Levi. The piece is dedicated to Rouse's mother, who died in the summer of 1993.

The Clarinet Concerto is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. It was written for the Finnish clarinetist Kari Kriikku. The piece was given its world premiere in Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, on September 14, 2002 by Kari Kriikku and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The composition is one of Lindberg's most frequently performed works.

The Concerto for Viola and Orchestra is a viola concerto by the American composer John Harbison. The work was commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra with contributions from Meet The Composer and Reader's Digest. It was first performed by Jaime Laredo and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Hugh Wolff on May 18, 1990.

Gorgon is a composition for orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra with support from the Rochester Sesquicentennial Committee to commemorated the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Rochester. It was completed in the summer of 1984 and was first performed in Rochester on November 15, 1984, by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of David Zinman, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Symphony No. 6 by Russian composer Alfred Schnittke was composed in 1992. It was commissioned by cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, who together gave its first performance in Moscow on 25 September 1993.

Russian composer Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 8 was composed in 1994. Its dedicatee Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the symphony's premiere in Stockholm on 10 November 1994.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rouse, Christopher. Symphony No. 1: Program Note by the Composer. 1986. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ Hurwitz, David (October 17, 2008). "Rouse: Symphony No. 1; Clarinet concerto". Classics Today. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Cariaga, Daniel (February 1, 1992). "MUSIC REVIEW : L.A. Philharmonic Program Salutes Heroism: The concert of works by Wagner, Christopher Rouse and Richard Strauss will be repeated tonight at the Performing Arts Center". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ MacDonald, Calum (January 20, 2012). "Rouse: Iscariot; Clarinet Concerto; Symphony No. 1". BBC Music Magazine . Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ Valdes, Lesley (November 1, 1988). "Christopher Rouse Symphony Wins A $5,000 Prize". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia Media Network . Retrieved March 4, 2015.
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.