Post by erik on May 14, 2022 17:13:04 GMT -5
Contemporary American composer Aaron Jay Kernis is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with a work for violin and classical guitar that pairs two of the great classical instrumentalists of our time.
Aaron Jay Kernis: DOUBLE CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND GUITAR
One of our country’s most prominent composers of contemporary music, Aaron Jay Kernis was born in Philadelphia on January 15, 1960, learning how to play both violin and piano by the age of 13, and then taking music lessons from, among others, “minimalist” composer John Adams at the San Francisco Conservatory. He first garnered attention in 1983, when his work “Dream Of The Morning Sky” was premiered by the New York Philharmonic; but in rehearsals, then-music director Zubin Mehta loudly complained about what he considered the score’s vagueness. Kernis, who was only 23 at the time, defended his work by simply urging Mehta to “read what’s there” in the score, an incident that engendered national media attention, and particularly in New York itself. Among his many great works, which have been said to be influenced by various composers from Stravinsky, Debussy, and Mahler all the way up to Leonard Bernstein, is his 1997 Double Concerto for violin and guitar. It has elements of jazz and neo-impressionism, which suit the modernism of the times, with two outer movements of conventional concerto length bracketing a flowing 15 minute-long Adagio, resulting in a work of about thirty minutes in length. The work was given its premiere performance, and subsequent world premiere recording, with conductor Hugh Wolff, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, violinist Cho-Liang Lin and noted classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, and quickly entered the contemporary American classical music repertoire.
Violin: CHO-LIANG LIN
Guitar: SHARON ISBIN
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra/HUGH WOLFF (Argo)
Included:
AIR FOR VIOLIN (Violin: JOSHUA BELL) (Minnesota Orchestra/DAVID ZINMAN)
LAMENT AND PRAYER (Violin: PAMELA FRANK) (Minnesota Orchestra/DAVID ZINMAN)
Aaron Jay Kernis: DOUBLE CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND GUITAR
One of our country’s most prominent composers of contemporary music, Aaron Jay Kernis was born in Philadelphia on January 15, 1960, learning how to play both violin and piano by the age of 13, and then taking music lessons from, among others, “minimalist” composer John Adams at the San Francisco Conservatory. He first garnered attention in 1983, when his work “Dream Of The Morning Sky” was premiered by the New York Philharmonic; but in rehearsals, then-music director Zubin Mehta loudly complained about what he considered the score’s vagueness. Kernis, who was only 23 at the time, defended his work by simply urging Mehta to “read what’s there” in the score, an incident that engendered national media attention, and particularly in New York itself. Among his many great works, which have been said to be influenced by various composers from Stravinsky, Debussy, and Mahler all the way up to Leonard Bernstein, is his 1997 Double Concerto for violin and guitar. It has elements of jazz and neo-impressionism, which suit the modernism of the times, with two outer movements of conventional concerto length bracketing a flowing 15 minute-long Adagio, resulting in a work of about thirty minutes in length. The work was given its premiere performance, and subsequent world premiere recording, with conductor Hugh Wolff, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, violinist Cho-Liang Lin and noted classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, and quickly entered the contemporary American classical music repertoire.
Violin: CHO-LIANG LIN
Guitar: SHARON ISBIN
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra/HUGH WOLFF (Argo)
Included:
AIR FOR VIOLIN (Violin: JOSHUA BELL) (Minnesota Orchestra/DAVID ZINMAN)
LAMENT AND PRAYER (Violin: PAMELA FRANK) (Minnesota Orchestra/DAVID ZINMAN)