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- Ezra Laderman
Concerto for Double Orchestra (1989)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
- 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn/4331/timp.perc/str (Movements 1-5)
- 2222/2210/2perc/str (Movements 2-4, Concerto for Chamber Orchestra)
- 35 min
Programme Note
Composer Note:
The first movement, Allegro mysterioso, is scored for large orchestra, its opening moments filled with controlled inner tension. Successively we hear over a sustained D, a rhythmic motive in the percussion, a fleeting gesture in the woodwinds, an angular theme suddenly emerging from the held note, a march-like figure played by the Bassoon and pizzicato strings and a chorale-like phrase intoned by the brass. These nuggets heard separately in the first fourteen measures all evolve as the movement unfolds. There is a tapestry-like quality to this opening movement… a landscape."
There are three kinds of music-making in the [second] movement Andante listesso. The first, deals with a layering of single notes, the second is a series of solo lines, and the third is a long arching line. Initially, timbre and harmonic logic are developed through the layering of single notes. Then a series of solo lines are introduced. They are first expressed by the oboe, viola and clarinet, and ultimately involve all the instruments. This is followed by a long arching line in the violins heard twice during the course of the movement. It first appears above a static pulse, and later arcs over an ever-changing harmonic serenity, at times almost pastoral. It undergoes a gradual transformation over the span of the movement, reaches a height of intensity, and in its closing measure returns to the first theme in an altered state.
The third movement, Allegretto giocoso, is subtitled “Couplings.” It begins with a succession of six duos: Oboe/Bassoon, French horn/Cello, Clarinet/Trombone, Violin/Double Bass, Flute/Viola, Trumpet/Tympani. The duos are first heard at the fullest realization; as they return they are increasingly truncated until but a single gesture separates the pairs. This foreshortening creates a kind of gravitational pull toward the essence of each duo. A new line in unison emerges from the remaining single notes and forms a synthesis of the original material. A gentle ending, with the single notes now heard vertically, brings the movement to a questioning close.
The fourth movement, Allegro, begins robustly, though quietly, with brio and rhythmic urgency. The Cello is our initial protagonist. With each repeat of the line, new colors are added and it becomes more emphatic in its delineation. This sense of purpose, drive and musical extension of material is abruptly interrupted for a fleeting moment with the strings tremolo sul ponticello. It goes by so quickly that it does not at first impose itself on our consciousness. However, an intruder has been felt if but for an instant. The music, without skipping another beat, returns to its optimistic profile, but again the intruder returns, more persistent, more insistent. In short order it will dominate. In a frenzied yet hushed, shadowy and ghostly manner the Chamber Concerto concludes.
The fifth movement, Andante ma non troppo, scored for large orchestra, realizes the ideas of the first movements are answered. Ideas, heard earlier, are now articulated passionately. The broad theme that pronounces this state embraces all that came before and the concerto closes in exhaustion.
— Ezra Laderman
The three inner movements of this work were premiered by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in May of 1989 as the Concerto for Chamber Orchestra.
The first movement, Allegro mysterioso, is scored for large orchestra, its opening moments filled with controlled inner tension. Successively we hear over a sustained D, a rhythmic motive in the percussion, a fleeting gesture in the woodwinds, an angular theme suddenly emerging from the held note, a march-like figure played by the Bassoon and pizzicato strings and a chorale-like phrase intoned by the brass. These nuggets heard separately in the first fourteen measures all evolve as the movement unfolds. There is a tapestry-like quality to this opening movement… a landscape."
There are three kinds of music-making in the [second] movement Andante listesso. The first, deals with a layering of single notes, the second is a series of solo lines, and the third is a long arching line. Initially, timbre and harmonic logic are developed through the layering of single notes. Then a series of solo lines are introduced. They are first expressed by the oboe, viola and clarinet, and ultimately involve all the instruments. This is followed by a long arching line in the violins heard twice during the course of the movement. It first appears above a static pulse, and later arcs over an ever-changing harmonic serenity, at times almost pastoral. It undergoes a gradual transformation over the span of the movement, reaches a height of intensity, and in its closing measure returns to the first theme in an altered state.
The third movement, Allegretto giocoso, is subtitled “Couplings.” It begins with a succession of six duos: Oboe/Bassoon, French horn/Cello, Clarinet/Trombone, Violin/Double Bass, Flute/Viola, Trumpet/Tympani. The duos are first heard at the fullest realization; as they return they are increasingly truncated until but a single gesture separates the pairs. This foreshortening creates a kind of gravitational pull toward the essence of each duo. A new line in unison emerges from the remaining single notes and forms a synthesis of the original material. A gentle ending, with the single notes now heard vertically, brings the movement to a questioning close.
The fourth movement, Allegro, begins robustly, though quietly, with brio and rhythmic urgency. The Cello is our initial protagonist. With each repeat of the line, new colors are added and it becomes more emphatic in its delineation. This sense of purpose, drive and musical extension of material is abruptly interrupted for a fleeting moment with the strings tremolo sul ponticello. It goes by so quickly that it does not at first impose itself on our consciousness. However, an intruder has been felt if but for an instant. The music, without skipping another beat, returns to its optimistic profile, but again the intruder returns, more persistent, more insistent. In short order it will dominate. In a frenzied yet hushed, shadowy and ghostly manner the Chamber Concerto concludes.
The fifth movement, Andante ma non troppo, scored for large orchestra, realizes the ideas of the first movements are answered. Ideas, heard earlier, are now articulated passionately. The broad theme that pronounces this state embraces all that came before and the concerto closes in exhaustion.
— Ezra Laderman
The three inner movements of this work were premiered by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in May of 1989 as the Concerto for Chamber Orchestra.
Media
Concerto for Double Orchestra "a play within a play": I. Allegro misterioso
Concerto for Double Orchestra "a play within a play": II. Andante listesso
Concerto for Double Orchestra "a play within a play": III. Allegro giocoso-"Couplings"
Concerto for Double Orchestra "a play within a play": IV. Allegro
Concerto for Double Orchestra "a play within a play": V. Andante ma non troppo