Synopsis
“In an ideal musical world, a composer should have a friendly, creative, and ongoing working relationship with performers for whom she writes,” composer Joan Tower said.
For Tower, who has emerged as one of the most successful American composers of her generation, a friendly, creative and ongoing relationship with chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras, and soloists has resulted in a number of musical works.
Her Violin Concerto, for example, was written for American violin virtuoso Elmar Oliveira, who gave its premiere performance on today’s date in 1992, at a Utah Symphony concert.
Tower wrote the piece with Oliveria in mind. “A lot of violinists are speed freaks, but Elmar can play both virtuosically and with an innate singing ability,” she wrote. The more lyrical and emotional heart of the work was written as memorial to Olivera’s older brother, also a violinist, who died of cancer during work on the new concerto. That’s not to say she didn’t supply some flashy, pyrotechnical passages for her star soloist, however.
As Oliviera put it, “It’s the kind of flashiness an audience can relate to. Joan doesn’t need avant-garde gimmicks, because now she’s completely comfortable speaking her own language, one that is expressive and natural to her.”
Or, as Tower put it, “Sometimes it’s a struggle to find out what you’re good at. It took me a number of years to decide how I wanted to write with my own voice.”
Music Played in Today's Program
Joan Tower (b. 1938): Violin Concerto; Elmar Oliveira, violin; Louisville Orchestra; Joseph Silverstein, conductor; D’Note 1016
On This Day
Deaths
1921 - Dutch composer Alfons Diepenbrock, 58, in Amsterdam
1948 - Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, 65, in Mexico City
1998 - American composer Mel Powell, 75, in Sherman Oaks, California. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1990.
Premieres
1742 - Handel: oratorio, Messiah (Julian date: April 13)
1801 - Haydn: oratorio The Seasons, in Vienna
1950 - Bernstein: incidental music Peter Pan (play by J.M. Barrie) at the Imperial Theater in New York City, conducted by Ben Steinberg
1957 - Ives: String Quartet No. 1, in New York City (This music was completed in 1896)
1988 - Anthony Davis: Notes from the Underground (dedicated to Ralph Ellison), at Carnegie Hall in New York by the American Composers Orchestra, Paul Lustig Dunkel conducting
1990 - Bright Sheng: Four Movemenets for piano trio, at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, by The Peabody Trio
1992 - Joan Tower: Violin Concerto, with soloist Elmar Oliveira and the Utah Symphony, Joseph Silverstein conducting
1997 - Stephen Paulus: opera The Three Hermits, at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minneota, with Thomas Lancaster conducting
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.