Symphony No. 3 (Harris)

Last updated May 03, 2021

Roy Harris's Symphony No. 3 is a symphony written in 1939. It received its world premiere on February 24, 1939, in Boston, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

History

Harris wrote this symphony on a commission from Hans Kindler but he gave it to Serge Koussevitzky instead.^[1] It has been described as "the quintessential American symphony",^[2] and "the most widely performed and recorded of all American symphonies".^[3]

The material that eventually became the opening of the Third Symphony was initially meant to be a violin concerto for Jascha Heifetz, but the commission fell through and Harris decided to turn it into a symphony. The point where the strings enter on middle C was to have been the solo violin's entrance.^[4]

The score was published by G. Schirmer in 1940.

Analysis

The music is scored for 3 flutes (the third doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn (cor anglais), 2 soprano clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 euphonium, 1 tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, vibraphone and strings.

According to Harris, the symphony is in five connected sections: Tragic, Lyrical, Pastoral, Fugue Dramatic, Dramatic Tragic. "After the first performance, Harris made two cuts" to the Pastoral section, specifically, measures 274–301 and 308–16.^[5] Originally the symphony did not end as in the published version, but stopped rather abruptly. At Koussevitzky's suggestion, Harris added a coda.^[4]

Critical reception

In 1939, Koussevitzky conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the premiere. While public reaction was initially chilly, the symphony has become more popular. This work uses a number of techniques that have become common in subsequent American classical music works, including "massive but spacious textures; a new emphasis on vital, syncopated rhythms... and a rich harmonic palette".^[6]

Koussevitzky made the world-premiere recording in a performance which Harris "regarded ... as the finest interpretation".^[3]

Together with "the Second Symphony by Howard Hanson, [and] the Third by Robert Ward ... the Third of Roy Harris" is one of those American symphonies which "are within the capabilities of our [American] community orchestras".^[7]

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References

Butterworth, Neil (1998). The American Symphony. Aldershot: Ashgate.

↑ Stehman, Dan (1984). Roy Harris: An American Musical Pioneer. Boston: Twayne Publishers. pp. 63–9.
↑ Canarina, John (1993). "The American Symphony". In Robert Layton (ed.). A Guide to the Symphony. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 408–10.
1 2 Butterworth 1998, p. 84.
1 2 Clark, John W.; Schuman, William (Autumn 1986). "William Schuman on His Symphonies: An Interview". American Music. 4 (3): 328–336. p. 334.
↑ Butterworth 1998, p. 86.
↑ Haskins, Rob (2000). "Orchestral and Chamber Music in the Twentieth Century". In Ellen Koskoff (ed.). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 3 - The United States and Canada. Routledge (Taylor & Francis). pp. 203–208.
Reprint 2017. ISBN 9781351544146.
↑ Van Horn, James (1979). The Community Orchestra: A Handbook for Conductors, Managers and Boards. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780313205620.