Violin Concerto No. 1 (Glass)
Encyclopedia
Philip Glass
's Violin Concerto No. 1 was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra
for soloist Paul Zukofsky
and premiered in New York City
on 5 April 1987. The work was composed with Glass's late father in mind. The piece quickly became one of Glass's most popular works. It is usually around 25–30 minutes in duration when performed.
s, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies
had been urging the composer to write more orchestra
l pieces, and the concerto
marks Glass's first full-scale venture into non-theatrical orchestral composing.
Glass's original concept was for a five-movement
work, and Zukofsky requested a slow, high finale. As the composition process developed, however, Glass decided that five movements were too many and settled for a more conventional three-movement format. According to Glass, this traditional structure was not a concession to formality but simply a result of the work finding "a voice of its own" as the first and second movements developed into longer pieces than he had originally conceived. The work was composed with Glass's father, Ben, in mind, despite the latter's death some sixteen years earlier: "I wrote the piece in 1987 thinking, let me write a piece that my father would have liked [...] A very smart nice man who had no education in music whatsoever, but the kind of person who fills up concert halls. [...] It's popular, it's supposed to be — it's for my Dad."
; two flute
s (one doubling piccolo
), two oboe
s, two B flat clarinet
s, E flat clarinet, bass clarinet
, two bassoon
s; four horns
, three trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba
; timpani
, side drum, bass drum
, wood block
, triangle
, cymbal
s, harp
and strings
.
indication in quarter note
s per minute:
that are to reappear periodically throughout the movement, slightly shifted with each recurrence. The solo violin enters early in the movement playing fairly rapid arpeggio
s with a faintly dance-like feel that extend to encompass the full range of the instrument. There's a brief repeat of the opening chord motif
, then the brass section
contributes a pattern of tightly harmonized
chords from which the violin draws a high melody
. The piece then plunges into an intense churning pattern, with full orchestra urging the violin into complex arpeggiated twists before opening out once more into the pulsing chord motif. The movement progresses by revisiting and varying
these elements, at the same time introducing an octave
-leap element that prefigures the main characteristic of the second movement. The movement draws to a close with a diminuendo
recapitulation of the violin's opening figures.
.
rhythm
along with untuned wooden percussion
. With the introduction of the violin, the movement wheels off into a vibrant dance that repeatedly hurls itself toward a powerful cadence
only to turn away from resolution at the last moment, with the violin twisting and turning amidst the drama. Out of the ebullience of the dance emerges the slow finale requested by Zukofsky: the tempo
drops and a variation of the now-familiar pulsing chord motif from the first movement enters to support the violin as it spins through a soft closing theme that recapitulates the tenor of the second.
, the first soloist to record the work, says the concerto "is a work typical of Glass, in which a certain enigmatic drive allows the performer to feel both bound to strict rhythm and free in his fantasy." The success of the concerto inspired Glass to branch out into yet more orchestral writing: his first fully formed work for orchestra alone, The Light, emerged in the same year as the violin concerto and was followed by a proliferation of concertos and symphonies
over the following years.
Glass's second violin concerto
, titled The American Four Seasons, was premiered as part of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
's 2009-10 season, on December 9, 2009. The London Philharmonic Orchestra
performed its European premiere on April 17, 2010.
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
's Violin Concerto No. 1 was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New York City. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers...
for soloist Paul Zukofsky
Paul Zukofsky
Paul Zukofsky is an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music.-Career:...
and premiered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 5 April 1987. The work was composed with Glass's late father in mind. The piece quickly became one of Glass's most popular works. It is usually around 25–30 minutes in duration when performed.
Conception
Following Glass's early operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School where he received his doctorate...
had been urging the composer to write more orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l pieces, and the concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
marks Glass's first full-scale venture into non-theatrical orchestral composing.
Glass's original concept was for a five-movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
work, and Zukofsky requested a slow, high finale. As the composition process developed, however, Glass decided that five movements were too many and settled for a more conventional three-movement format. According to Glass, this traditional structure was not a concession to formality but simply a result of the work finding "a voice of its own" as the first and second movements developed into longer pieces than he had originally conceived. The work was composed with Glass's father, Ben, in mind, despite the latter's death some sixteen years earlier: "I wrote the piece in 1987 thinking, let me write a piece that my father would have liked [...] A very smart nice man who had no education in music whatsoever, but the kind of person who fills up concert halls. [...] It's popular, it's supposed to be — it's for my Dad."
Instrumentation
The concerto is scored for solo violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
; two flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (one doubling piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, two B flat clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, E flat clarinet, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, two bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s; four horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, three trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
; timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, side drum, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, wood block
Wood block
A woodblock is essentially a small piece of slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....
, triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
.
Structure
MetronomeMetronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
indication in quarter note
Quarter note
A quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
s per minute:
- I. = 104 — = 120
- II. = ca. 108 or ca. 96
- III. = ca. 150 — CodaCoda (music)Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
: Poco meno = 104
Movement I
The first movement is characterized by a series of light, pulsing chordsChord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
that are to reappear periodically throughout the movement, slightly shifted with each recurrence. The solo violin enters early in the movement playing fairly rapid arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s with a faintly dance-like feel that extend to encompass the full range of the instrument. There's a brief repeat of the opening chord motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
, then the brass section
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
contributes a pattern of tightly harmonized
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
chords from which the violin draws a high melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
. The piece then plunges into an intense churning pattern, with full orchestra urging the violin into complex arpeggiated twists before opening out once more into the pulsing chord motif. The movement progresses by revisiting and varying
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
these elements, at the same time introducing an octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
-leap element that prefigures the main characteristic of the second movement. The movement draws to a close with a diminuendo
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
recapitulation of the violin's opening figures.
Movement II
The second movement opens with a broken chord oscillation typical of Glass, and the low strings and woodwind begin the descending ground bass pattern that they will repeat for the duration of the movement. The rest of the orchestra is introduced over the subsequent repetitions of the ground bass, accumulating layers of harmony. Over this harmonic tissue the violin plays a series of high motifs - one lyrical, consisting mainly of repeated sustained notes, and two of arpeggiated figures. Once established, these motifs are shared equally between the soloist and the orchestra, with the soloist playing one while the orchestra plays one of the others, shifting the motif between sections of the orchestra. The focus gently shifts between the soloist and the orchestra, with neither dominating the other or competing for focus. The movement peaks at its halfway point and the harmonic layers disappear one by one, stranding the violin between the octaves, unable to settle on the tonicTonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
.
Movement III
The dance-like feel of the first movement is capitalized upon in the third movement, which after lingering on a single chord for a brief period, works up a Latin AmericanLatin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
along with untuned wooden percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
. With the introduction of the violin, the movement wheels off into a vibrant dance that repeatedly hurls itself toward a powerful cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
only to turn away from resolution at the last moment, with the violin twisting and turning amidst the drama. Out of the ebullience of the dance emerges the slow finale requested by Zukofsky: the tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
drops and a variation of the now-familiar pulsing chord motif from the first movement enters to support the violin as it spins through a soft closing theme that recapitulates the tenor of the second.
Reception
The piece quickly became one of Glass's most popular works, and appears on a number of recordings. Gidon KremerGidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,...
, the first soloist to record the work, says the concerto "is a work typical of Glass, in which a certain enigmatic drive allows the performer to feel both bound to strict rhythm and free in his fantasy." The success of the concerto inspired Glass to branch out into yet more orchestral writing: his first fully formed work for orchestra alone, The Light, emerged in the same year as the violin concerto and was followed by a proliferation of concertos and symphonies
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
over the following years.
Glass's second violin concerto
Violin Concerto No. 2 (Glass)
Philip Glass' Violin Concerto No. 2, titled The American Four Seasons, received its world premiere in Toronto on December 9, 2009, with violinist Robert McDuffie, for whom the work was composed, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under conductor Peter Oundjian...
, titled The American Four Seasons, was premiered as part of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
's 2009-10 season, on December 9, 2009. The London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
performed its European premiere on April 17, 2010.
Recordings
Notable recordings of this composition include:| Violin | Conductor | Orchestra | Record Company | Year of Recording | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,... |
Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi is a German conductor of Hungarian ancestry.- Youth and World War II :Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to jurist Hans von Dohnányi and Christine Bonhoeffer. His uncle on his mother's side was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian/ethicist... |
Vienna Philharmonic | Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label... |
1992 | CD |
| Robert McDuffie Robert McDuffie Robert McDuffie is an internationally renowned violinist. He has played as a soloist with many of the major orchestras around the world including those of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minnesota, Houston, St... |
Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach , born February 20, 1940, Breslau, Germany is a German-born pianist and conductor. He currently holds positions in Washington, D.C. as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and music director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.-Early... |
Houston Symphony | Telarc | 1998 | CD |
| Adele Anthony Adele Anthony Adele Anthony is an Australian-American violinist. She attended Dernancourt Primary School, South Australia.A native of Tasmania, she studied violin at the University of Adelaide and the Juilliard School.... |
Takuo Yuasa Takuo Yuasa is a Japanese conductor. Yuasa has directed major orchestras in Japan and the UK, and recording on more than 50 CDs as an exclusive artist for Naxos Records.-Biography:Takuo Yuasa was born in Osaka, Japan, where he studied piano, cello, flute, and clarinet... |
Ulster Orchestra Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall... |
Naxos Naxos Records Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest... |
1999 | CD |