Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra) [1] (1982) is the first symphony by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939). Premiered May 5, 1982, by the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller at Alice Tully Hall and commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and the National Endowment for the Arts with the support of the Guggenheim Foundation, [2] it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1983, making her the first female composer to win the prize.
The symphony is built around a tonal axis on A [3] and uses a technique common to many of Zwilich's compositions where the large scale work is elaborated from the initial material, "the fashioning of a musical idea that contains the 'seeds' of the work to follow," [1] along with continuous variation [3] and, "older...principles, such as melodic and pitch recurrence and clearly defined areas of contrast." [2] [4]
The entire three movements use continuous development of the material of the opening fifteen measures, which begin, "with a 'motto': three statements of a rising minor third, marked accelerando." [2] [4]
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The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted into a prize: "For a distinguished musical composition of significant dimension by an American that has had its first performance in the United States during the year."
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a postmodernist, neoromantic style. She has been called "one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers." She was a 1994 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Zwilich has served as the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.
Shulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her the Pulitzer Prize for Music. She was the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first being Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in 1983. Ran was a professor of music composition at the University of Chicago from 1973 to 2015. She has performed as a pianist in Israel, Europe and the U.S., and her compositional works have been performed worldwide by a wide array of orchestras and chamber groups.
The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1983.
The Michigan State University Children's Choir (MSUCC) is a Grammy Award-winning children's choir located in East Lansing, Michigan. In 2009, Kristin Zaryski was named director, succeeding the founder of the choir, Mary Alice Stollak. Following Ms. Zaryski, Kyle Zeuch was named Director. After 5 years, Kyle Zeuch departed for Lebanon Valley College. He was succeeded by current director Alison Geesey-Lagan. Most choristers in the choir come from the two other children's choirs in the program, the CMS Singers, and Preparatory Choir. The choir has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Symphony Center in Chicago, and the Kennedy Center, in Washington D.C. In 2006, the choir won two Grammy Awards for their contributions to William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album.
Elsa Jacqueline Barraine was a composer of French music in the time after the neoclassicist movement of Les Six, Ravel, and Stravinsky. Despite being considered “one of the outstanding French composers of the mid-20th century,” Barraine's music is seldom performed today. She won the Prix de Rome in 1929 for La vierge guerrière, a sacred trilogy named for Joan of Arc, and was the fourth woman ever to receive that prestigious award.
The Symphony No. 2, or Cello Symphony is a composition for orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was composed in 1985 on a commission from the San Francisco Symphony. It was first performed on November 13, 1985, by the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Edo de Waart, to whom the piece is dedicated.
The Symphony No. 3 is a symphony for orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate their sesquicentennial anniversary. It was first performed by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Jahja Ling on February 25, 1993. The symphony is dedicated "with love and admiration" to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic.
Symphony No. 4, The Gardens, is a choral symphony for chorus, children's choir, and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was composed in 1999 on a commission from the Michigan State University in honor of John D. Withrow and Dortha J. Withrow, to whom the work is dedicated. It was first performed by the Michigan State University Orchestra, Choral Ensembles, and Children's Chorus conducted by Leon Gregorian on February 5, 2000.
The Symphony No. 5 or Concerto for Orchestra is a composition for orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Juilliard School in honor of Bruce Kovner and Suzie Kovner with support of the Trust of Francis Goelet. It was first performed by the Juilliard Orchestra conducted by James Conlon at Carnegie Hall on October 27, 2008.
The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is a composition for solo cello and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was written on a commission from the South Florida Symphony Orchestra. Zwilich composed the piece over a six-month period, completing the work in early 2020. It was given its world premiere by the cellist Zuill Bailey the South Florida Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sebrina María Alfonso on March 5, 2020, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The concerto is dedicated to Zuill Bailey and Sebrina María Alfonso and written in memory of the cellists Leonard Rose and Mstislav Rostropovich.
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is a composition for solo piano and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was written on a commission from Carnegie Hall, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the League of American Orchestras. It was the first composition ever commissioned by either Carnegie Hall or the League of American Orchestras. The world premiere was performed by the pianist Marc-André Hamelin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Günther Herbig at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 26, 1986. The piece is dedicated to Günther Herbig.
The Concerto Grosso 1985 is a composition for chamber orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Washington Friends of Handel in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of George Frideric Handel. It was given its world premiere by Handel Festival Orchestra conducted by Stephen Simon on May 9, 1986.
The Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is a composition for oboe solo and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra in honor of their principal oboist John Mack's 25th year with the orchestra. It was first performed by Mack and the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi on January 17, 1991. The piece is dedicated "with affection" to John Mack.
The Chamber Symphony is a symphony for chamber ensemble by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. It was commissioned by the music ensemble Boston Musica Viva, which first performed the work under the direction of Richard Pittman on November 30, 1979. The work is cast in a single movement and has a duration of approximately 17 minutes in performance.
The Clarinet Concerto is a composition for solo clarinet and orchestra by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. It was commissioned by the Arlene and Dr. Milton D. Berkman Philanthropic Fund for the clarinetist David Shifrin, to whom the piece is dedicated. The concerto was first performed by Shifrin and twelve members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall on September 12, 2003.
The Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra is a bassoon concerto written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for their principal bassoonist Nancy Goeres. It was given its world premiere by Goeres and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel in Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh, on May 13, 1993. The piece is dedicated to Maazel, Goeres, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Symbolon is a composition for orchestra written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The piece was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for their 1988 tour of the Soviet Union and was completed on January 8, 1988. It is dedicated to Zubin Mehta, who conducted the work's premiere by the New York Philharmonic in Leningrad on June 1, 1988. It was the first piece of American orchestral music to be premiered in the Soviet Union.
Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra is a piano concerto written by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The work was commissioned by the pianist Jeffrey Biegel in association with the Adele Marcus Foundation, the Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation, the South Florida Council of the Chopin Foundation of the United States, Isa and Marvin Leibowitz, the American Music Center, and a consortium of 27 American orchestras. It was first performed by Jeffrey Biegel and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jesús López Cobos in Cincinnati on September 22, 2000.
Peanuts Gallery is a piano concerto by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, inspired by the characters of the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was a friend of Zwilich. It was commissioned for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra by the Carnegie Hall Corporation, and first performed by the pianist Albert Kim and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on March 22, 1997.
