Jennifer Higdon – winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music – just had her latest major premiere, “On A Wire.” It’s a concerto for the contemporary ensemble Eighth Blackbird and was premiered last week with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conductor Robert Spano, who’s been a longtime champion of Higdon.
The performers have already recorded the work and Eighth Blackbird will perform it soon with the eight other orchestras that participated in the commission, including the Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toronto symphonies.
Higdon and Spano in rehearsal
“On a Wire begins with the six musicians gathered around the open-lidded piano, most of them ‘bowing’ the interior strings with horsehair to eerie, almost electronic-music effect. As the concerto evolves into a full-blown orchestral work, the musicians have their own virtuosic solo moments, none alike in temperament, some dense and excited, others like philosophical soliloquies.” – David Patrick Sterns in lengthy and thoughtful story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The concerto is pure Higdon, with jaunty rhythms that evoke Copland’s Americana at the beginning and end, contrasted in the middle by a tender, fragrant lyricism. Marimba flutters sounded like a breeze passing through a bamboo forest. Many of Higdon’s fans are waiting for her to cross an artistic threshold and turn out a masterpiece. With emotions kept in reserve, ‘On a Wire’ isn’t there yet.” – Pierre Ruhe, Access Atlanta, reviewing the concert which also included a premiere by Michael Gandolfi.
Eighth Blackbird
BY THE WAY: Since this posting went up, representatives of Eight Blackbird emailed to say hey and inform that two of its members – violinist Matt Albert and clarinetist Michael J. MacCaferri – just happen to be gay.
Previously on MyBigGayEars:
