New York Philharmonic Biennial: Alan Gilbert Conducts Boulez, Stucky, and Nørgård

Hosted by the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic will conclude the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL at David Geffen Hall with the U.S. Premiere of Symphony No. 8 by Per Nørgård (Denmark, b. 1932) — the second recipient of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic; Messagesquisse by former Philharmonic Music Director Pierre Boulez (France, 1925–2016), in tribute to the late Music Director/composer and champion of the music of our time; and the New York Premiere of Second Concerto for Orchestra by Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky (United States, 1949–2016), honoring the late composer who hosted the Philharmonic’s Here & Now series and whom the Philharmonic commissioned twice. The Boulez and Stucky works replace the World Premiere of a new work by Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen, which has been postponed.

Per Nørgård wrote of his three-movement Symphony No. 8 (2012): “The first movement opens with sculptural rising and falling scales. Visually the sound may call to mind, say, spirals or ziggurats. Brisk music leads to the climax of the movement. The second movement is slow and sensually melodious and has three interludes of greater timbral melodic action. The third movement begins very restlessly but towards the climax the tempo gradually begins to accelerate. An oscillating pianissimo murmur ends the movement — and the symphony.” Of the genre, Nørgård has said: “The compelling character of a symphony for me lies in the fact that it is never something that is explicitly stated. It is in a state that ensures that it never gets through with itself. As Poul Ruders once put it, the symphony is like a big bear that one wrestles with.” Nørgård’s Symphony No. 8 has been compared to the music of two other Nordic composers: Nielsen (the subject of Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic’s acclaimed, multi-season The Nielsen Project) and Sibelius (whose 150th birthday the Philharmonic celebrates in the 2015–16 season). Per Nørgård is the second recipient of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic, which recognizes a composer for extraordinary artistic endeavor in the field of new music.

Boulez’s Messagesquisse (1976–77) — to be performed by Philharmonic cellist Eric Bartlett as soloist along with Philharmonic cellists Patrick Jee, Qiang Tu, Sumire Kudo, Maria Kitsopoulos, and Alexei Yupanqui Gonzales and guest cellist Wendy Sutter as accompanying cellos — was composed as a 70th birthday present to his friend Paul Sacher, the conductor and new-music patron, at the invitation of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Using musical cryptogram, Boulez incorporated Sacher’s name with the notes E-flat (S), A, C, B (H), E, and D (Re); Messagesquisse became the first of many Boulez works incorporating this “Sacher hexachord.” Pierre Boulez served as Philharmonic Music Director from 1971 to 1977. During his tenure, the Philharmonic introduced concert formats that brought the audience in direct contact with composers and performers, including the informal Rug Concerts and downtown Prospective Encounters. In 1992 he was made an Honorary Member of the Society. “Pierre Boulez was a towering and influential musical figure whose Philharmonic leadership implicitly laid down a challenge of innovation and invention that continues to inspire us to this day,” says Music Director Alan Gilbert. “To me, personally, he also was an unfailingly gracious mentor and friend, from the years when I worked with him in Cleveland and when I was appointed to the Philharmonic to the last time I saw him in Baden-Baden on a Philharmonic tour. I will miss his musicianship, kindness, and wisdom.”

Second Concerto for Orchestra (2003) is the work with which Steven Stucky won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Walt Disney Concert Hall’s inaugural season. Like Boulez’s Messagesquisse, the work uses musical cryptogram. The first movement, Overture (With Friends), “names” Bach and Shostakovich in addition to Esa-Pekka Salonen (then music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and currently Composer-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and that orchestra’s leadership. Steven Stucky was the host of the Philharmonic’s Hear & Now series from 2005 to 2009, introducing audiences to new music through chats with composers followed by performances of their new pieces. The Orchestra played four of his works between 2008 and 2012, including Rhapsodies (a Philharmonic Co-Commission), led by Lorin Maazel in both its World Premiere, on the 2008 Tour of Europe, and its U.S. Premiere in New York; selections from Spirit Voices on a 2008 Young People’s Concert; Son et Lumière, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert in February 2012; and the New York Premiere of Symphony (a Philharmonic Co-Commission), led by Alan Gilbert in November 2012. Steven Stucky’s music will also be featured on the NY PHIL BIENNIAL programs featuring the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.

This concert is presented by the New York Philharmonic.

The performance will be preceded by a prelude concert featuring the Aspen Music Festival and School’s Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, led by Timothy Weiss, performing two works from its NY PHIL BIENNIAL program: Steven Stucky’s The Stars and the Roses and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Catch and Release. Steven Stucky was originally scheduled to conduct this program, before his untimely passing in February 2016. The prelude concert is co-presented by the New York Philharmonic and the Aspen Music Festival and School.


Related Events

Radio Broadcast: Highlights from this performance will be broadcast on WFMT’s nationally syndicated new-music program Relevant Tones with Seth Boustead, available at www.relevantones.com, in the summer of 2016. The broadcast date will be announced at a later time.

Play Date: All audience members attending the NY PHIL BIENNIAL concert on June 11 are invited to the NY PHIL BIENNIAL Play Date, a post-concert meet-up with composers and performers over cocktails at Bar Biennial in the lobby of David Geffen Hall (at the site of David Geffen Hall Café).

#biennialist: The New York Philharmonic invites audience members to be a #biennialist. The five attendees who attend the most NY PHIL BIENNIAL events and post about it on social media will win a free pair of tickets to the final concert, featuring the New York Philharmonic conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, June 11 at 7:00 p.m at David Geffen Hall. Additional prizes and offerings for #biennialists will be offered; follow the New York Philharmonic on its social media channels (instagram.com/nyphilharmonic and twitter.com/nyphil) for more information.


About the NY PHIL BIENNIAL

A flagship project of the New York Philharmonic, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is a wideranging exploration of today’s music that brings together an international roster of composers, performers, and curatorial voices for concerts presented both on the Lincoln Center campus and with partners in venues throughout the city. The second NY PHIL BIENNIAL, taking place May 23–June 11, 2016, will feature diverse programs — ranging from solo works to a chamber opera to large scale symphonies — by more than 100 composers, more than half of whom are American; present some of the country’s top music schools and youth choruses; and expand to more New York City neighborhoods. A range of events and activities will engender an ongoing dialogue among artists, composers, and audience members. Partners in the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL include National Sawdust; 92nd Street Y; Aspen Music Festival and School; Interlochen Center for the Arts; League of Composers/ISCM; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; LUCERNE FESTIVAL; MetLiveArts; New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival; Whitney Museum of American Art; WQXR’s Q2 Music; and Yale School of Music. For complete information about the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL, see press release.

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