A Tale of Two Epics
The featured works on this weekend's Classics concerts represent both an epic project followed by an epic sound. Composer Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Orchestra is the culmination of much note-taking - no, she wasn't stealing score pages from Mozart or Beethoven - she was taking notes as members of the Philadelphia Orchestra (who commissioned the work) gave her suggestions on what they would like their solo parts to sound like throughout the piece. The result is a colorful tour-de-orchestra with each instrument and instrument family getting their moment to step into the limelight. In case you're wondering, the flute gets the longest solo. Sorry tuba...maybe next time.Following Higdon's modern orchestral marvel of soloistic progression is arguably one of the most epic sounding pieces ever composed: Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Scored for a large orchestra, chorus, boys choir and vocal soloists, there is a very good reason Hollywood has adopted Carmina Burana's overwhelming sonic onslaught to play as underscore to many action movie trailers. The sheer power and weight of the movements that bookend the work are enough to take anyone's breath away. The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, Phoenix Boys Choir and gathered guest artists have been hard at work this week putting all the pieces of this symphonic puzzle together.
At the end of the evening, we hope you'll see a connection between an established masterpiece like Carmina Burana and the influence it has on a modern composer like Jennifer Higdon. Listen in on her conversation with Michael Christie in the video below about her own process and what a piece like Carmina Burana does for her sensibilities. If you don't have tickets yet, they are becoming scarce in a hurry - you can try and grab some here. After the concert, let us know in the comments what your thoughts are on the combination this program presents. Does the evolutionary progression from Orff's Carmina Burana to Higdon's Concerto for Orchestra become apparent to your ears?
10 Comments:
Great concert, but what happened to the promised encore at the end of the Thursday night concert? I thought there were supposed to be encores after the concerts in April.
Hi Elizabeth. For an encore I had planned a repeat of the final O Fortuna chorus. In the end, I was a bit nervous about asking the chorus to belt that out again since we had two more performances to go over the weekend. There was also the insertion of Happy Birthday for one of our most loyal patrons and the late hour of the concert to consider so I made the decision to let the performance stand as it was.
We are planning an encore this week, however. The program is somewhat shorter and I have a great one that relates to the organ theme!
I knew when we announced our plans to offer encores that this program in particular might pose a problem given its substantial length and the sheer exertion required to get through both pieces.
Thanks for writing. I'm sorry if you were disappointed not to hear more music.
Michael
Thank you Maestro for having the sense to cancel any "encore" at the Saturday night concert.
Oddly enough, most of the audience sat or stood in place silently in anticipation of one...
May I suggest that you have one set encore piece in the musicians' folders throughout the next season? For example, "Stars & Stripes Forever." When the mood calls for it, suddenly blast it out! Then, the audience will acknowledge it by clapping along. Reminder of the days of Arthur Fiedler.
I enjoyed Carmina Burana because you made it visually entertaining. That was the first time I had seen the 3 vocal soloists "act" out their parts. Of course, the roasted Swan was the best.
The placement of the Phoenix Boys Choir to the front left edge of the stage was effective because we could hear them better and we could listen to their “lusty” interaction with the soloist. I could have used a larger and louder Phoenix Symphony Chorus though (or were they told to hold back?).
At first, I thought the projected translation would be an extraneous distraction. I was wrong. It was nice to see the audience and members of the first violins reading and laughing along.
Certainly not up to the caliber of the live performance by Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic or the recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. But, a most entertaining live performance for the packed house.
The Saturday night performance was
tremendous. Jennifer Higdon's
power of orchestration to me is
overwhelming. It was wonderful to
hear Orff's Carmina Burana from
a seat in the audience. In three
previous performances of that work
I was in the bass section of the
ASU Choral Union. The Symphony
Chorus in this performance was
excellent and powerful. This is
my 52nd year of attending Phoenix
Symphony concerts beginning with
Leslie Hodge as conductor in the
Phoenix Union High School auditorium. I deeply appreciate
the growth of the orchestra. I did
love the years also under the
batons of Theo Alcantara and
Eduardo Mata. They dared challenging
works from South American composers,like Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Every concert this year has been
thrilling for me. What a great orchestra and conductor we have !
Maurice
Another HIGDON piece this week. "MACHINE."
But only 2-3 min. long?
This should be the "encore."
--------------------------
"The concert ended with 'Machine' ... one long, loud, freight-train crescendo with hellishly snapping winds and jumping-bean rhythms, and it sweeps relentlessly forward for just under three minutes, then stops on a dime. For sheer unpretentious fun it was just the ticket."
-- Ronald Brown, The Washington Post
Good idea, Sonny.
I hadn't quite anticipated the buildup of interest amongst our audience members with the intensity it has become, not knowing how our season long survey of Jennifer's music would go.
I felt confident that people would enjoy the journey, but it's gotten to a pitch I didn't quite expect.
On one hand, the encore idea would be great. On the other, someone who really liked her other works might be enticed to hear another this weekend by seeing it listed on the program.
In any case, I'm pleased that this composer spotlight has worked so well. I loved the dialogue and the fact that people were debating the merits of one work over another was very satisfying for our institution.
There were two things about the Higdon Concerto for Orchestra that I still remember. So, it was not just another contemporary piece that entered one ear and left the other. I’m not talking about a “hummable tune.” I hope for some type of “impact” when I experience a piece in live concert.
The first was Bruce “Wild Man” Pulk’s timpani work. That Higdon just loves to write for percussion and challenge them to the limit. Each entrance by the percussion led the orchestra to the furious finish.
The other was the second movement that featured exclusively our string section. If memory serves me right, they were mostly playing pizzicato, weren’t they? In fact, the audience reacted with an approving chuckle and some applause at the end of the movement.
Then, I went home to listen to the piece as recorded by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It sounded like the majority of the second movement was bowed. Perhaps this aging Cat has selective memory. Maestro, this the composer make any changes to the score since that recording?
The SoundPost writer stated, about the Higdon piece as follows: "the flute gets the longest solo. Sorry tuba...maybe next time."
How untrue! At the live performance last Saturday, I could clearly hear Mr. Pack blowing vigorously whenever the brass section was summoned. Because Ms. Higdon is not a brass player, she doesn't make things easy for the tuba. She had him leaping up and down the range with key accentuated notes. I felt out of breath just listening to him.
Sonny, I think with the use of spot microphones up close to the principals in the ASO recording, the bowed passages feel more prominent. We played the same parts the ASO used and I referred to that recording often so I can safely say that it is one of those magical differences between live and recorded performances! I'm glad the piece has stuck with you!
Thanks for writing.
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