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David Salvage

 Contributing Editors:
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Evan Johnson
Ian Moss
Lanier Sammons
Deborah Kravetz
(Philadelphia)
Eric C. Reda
(Chicago)
Christian Hertzog
(San Diego)
Jerry Zinser
(Los Angeles)

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Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019

Thursday, April 06, 2006
At the Composers Forum with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich


This morning I had the pleasure of participating in the New York Philharmonic�s Composers Forum, featuring Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The Phil is performing her �American Concerto� for trumpet and orchestra this weekend, and this morning�s Forum consisted of an open rehearsal followed by an hour-long question-and-answer session. I am happy to report that Ms. Zwilich has been to � and very much approves of � our little patch of cyberspace here.

The �American Concerto� is a boisterous single-movement work that was premiered by Doc Severinsen and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in 1994. The piece is inspired by the varied musical backgrounds American brass players tend to come from. Jagged fanfares reminiscent of college football halftime shows erupt periodically from the brass section, while the orchestra in quieter moments finds time to sit on pungent, bluesy harmonies. The solo part ranges from the brooding and lyrical to the exuberant and virtuosic. In the open rehearsal, Philip Smith, the Phil�s principal trumpet, performed the work with all the brash swagger one would hope for in a work entitled �American� concerto.

About ten people, mostly student composers, attended the question-and-answer session afterwards in the Dana Lounge backstage at Avery Fisher. Here are some of the more unexpected observations Zwilich made during the meeting: she doesn�t like opera all that much � which is why she hasn�t written one; she thinks the orchestration of Berg�s Violin Concerto �doesn�t work;� a bassoon (apparently) doesn�t sound any louder or softer whether it�s placed at the back or the front of a stage; when writing for an instrument she�s unfamiliar with, she studies etude books designed for students of the instrument; people who tell you not to be a composer are giving you �good, friendly advice.� Sad, but true.

For more about the Phil�s Composers Forums and other educational programs, click here.
posted by David Salvage 4/06/2006



 
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