Anthony Braxton's operas

Synopsis

In the 19th century, Richard Wagner composed The Ring of the Nibelungen, a cycle of four operas lasting 16 hours in performance. In the 20th century, another German composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen, wrote a cycle of seven, collectively titled Light, which runs about 29 hours. Not to be outdone, for several decades a 21st-century American composer has been working on Trillium, a cycle of twelve operas, which, if completed, will probably last much longer.

This composer’s name might not be familiar to opera fans, since MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Anthony Braxton is better known in jazz circles. As a saxophonist, he has made over a hundred recordings, sometimes with jazz greats like Dave Brubeck or Chick Corea. Braxton resists being labeled, however, stating, “Even though I have been saying I'm not a jazz musician for the last 25 years, in the final analysis, an African-American with a saxophone? Ahh, he’s jazz!”

The sixth opera in the cycle, Trillium J, or The Non-Unconfessionable, had its first complete performance at Roulette in Brooklyn on today’s date in 2014. To the question “Why write operas?” Braxton said, “I believe the medium of opera is directly relevant to cultural alignment and evolution.” Time will tell if Trillium unfolds a culturally relevant message to rival Wagner and Stockhausen’s, or simply acts as a framework for the wide-ranging moods and colors of Braxon’s music.

Music Played in Today's Program

Anthony Braxton (b. 1945): excerpt from Act 2 of Trillium J; soloists and ensemble; Anthony Braxton, conductor; New Braxton House 906

On This Day

Births

• 1868 - German composer Max von Schillings, in Duren

• 1892 - French composer Germaine Tailleferre, in Pau-St.-Maur

Deaths

• 1799 - Dutch composer, violinist and organist Pieter Hellendaal, 78, in Cambridge (England)

• 1986 - Swedish composer Dag Wiren, 80, in Stockholm

Premieres

• 1774 - Gluck: opera Iphigenia in Aulis, in Paris at the Palais Royale Opéra

• 1899 - Franck: String Quartet, in Paris

• 1936 - Berg: Violin Concerto, in Barcelona at the Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music, by the Pablo Casals Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen with Louis Krasner (who had commissioned the work) as the soloist

• 1964 - Stravinsky: Fanfare for a New Theater, at the Inauguration of the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center

• 1975 - Rameau: unfinished opera Les Boréades, in London. This was Rameau’s last opera, composed in 1764 and left unfinished at the time of the composer’s death. For the 1975 premiere in London, conductor John Eliot Gardiner prepared a performing edition of the score.

• 2000 - Kernis: Valentines for soprano and orchestra, in Minneapolis, with Renée Fleming and the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting

• 2001 - Michael Daugherty: UFO for solo percussion and winds, in Denton, Texas, by Evelyn Glennie and the North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Migliaro Corporon conducting

• 2001 - Poul Ruders: Paganini Variations for guitar and orchestra, with soloist David Starobin and the Odense Symphony of Denmark

Others

• 1787 - Mozart finishes his String Quintet No. 3 in Vienna. Mozart had offered this work on a subscription basis via announcements in the Wiener Zeitung on April 2, 5, and 9 of that year; due to the poor response, Mozart extended the offer June 25 through Jan. 1, 1789.

• 1851 - First documented American performance of Beethoven’s Coriolanus Overture, at the Melodeon in Boston, during a Grand Symphony Concert conducted by C.C. Perkins.