{"id":704,"date":"2008-01-26T10:58:30","date_gmt":"2008-01-26T18:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/26\/adams-chamber-symphony\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T18:34:54","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T02:34:54","slug":"adams-chamber-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/26\/adams-chamber-symphony\/","title":{"rendered":"adams chamber symphony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ja-portrait-1-lw.jpg\"
\nComposer John Adams
\nPhoto credit: Deborah O’Grady<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I read a few months ago that John Adams had written a sequel to his Chamber Symphony<\/em> (1992) called Son of Chamber Symphony<\/em> (2007). The monster movie allusions seem to be proving correct if you listen to all the chatter flying around the back hallways of the concert hall and the email pipes are burning hot, too, from what I hear.<\/p>\n

The Chamber Symphony<\/em> is literally a concerto for 15 instruments, and it presents parts for each instrument that approach the unplayable (but, unfortunately, in fact, are). As Adams writes in his notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

. . . the Chamber Symphony<\/em> bears a suspicious resemblance to its eponymous predecessor, the Opus 9<\/em> of Arnold Schoenberg. The choice of instruments is roughly the same as Schoenberg’s, although mine includes parts for synthesizer, percussion (a trap set), trumpet and trombone. However, whereas the Schoenberg symphony is in one uninterrupted structure, mine is broken into three discrete movements, “Mongrel Airs”; “Aria with Walking Bass” and “Roadrunner.” The titles give a hint of the general ambience of the music.<\/p>\n

Despite all the good humor, my Chamber Symphony<\/em> turned out to be shockingly difficult to play. Unlike Phrygian Gates<\/em> or Pianola<\/em>, with their fundamentally diatonic palettes, this new piece, in what I suppose could be termed my post-Klinghoffer language, is linear and chromatic. Instruments are asked to negotiate unreasonably difficult passages and alarmingly fast tempi, often to inexorable click of the trap set.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Milwaukee lead viola operator Robert Levine performed the piece this weekend, and writes the following<\/a> after the first (and only) performance in Milwaukee last night:<\/p>\n

As I mentioned a few days ago, we’re doing the John Adams Chamber Symphony<\/em> this week, with Nicholas McGegan conducting. Most of us had the same reaction on first seeing the parts as I did, which was despair at ever being able to play it at the marked tempi. But it’s amazing what hard work can do.<\/p>\n

It’s also amazing how accurately the tempo markings in each movement are calculated to make at least one person’s part just a shade beyond unplayable in every<\/em> movement – even the slow movement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Listen to an excerpt from the Chamber Symphony, <\/em>mvt. III – Roadrunner:
\n[audio:chsym3.mp3]
\n\"ensmodcover.jpg\"
\nPerformed by Ensemble Modern, conducted by Sian Edwards
\nPurchase CD here<\/a>.
\nI can’t (and won’t) go into the behind-the-scenes drama (only to say that there has been plenty) that has surrounded the Adams here in Oregon (before rehearsals have even begun), but suffice it to say – it’s a tour de force for virtuoso musicians, and if you’re on the fence about coming to the concerts on Feb 2 – 4, grab a ticket to the Oregon Symphony<\/a> and come see the fur fly on stage!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Composer John Adams Photo credit: Deborah O’Grady. I read a few months ago that John Adams had written a sequel to his Chamber Symphony (1992) called Son of Chamber Symphony (2007). The monster movie allusions seem to be proving correct if you listen to all the chatter flying around the back hallways of the concert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[148,183,115,2],"tags":[416,359],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-contemporary","category-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-john-adams","tag-robert-levine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-bm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":728,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/01\/cheap-seats-the-oso\/","url_meta":{"origin":704,"position":0},"title":"cheap seats @ the oso","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks for generous support from Symphony sponsor Wells Fargo, now through February 8th, the Oregon Symphony will be offering all seats for the remainder of the season at either $20 or $50 each (except for the Eartha Kitt concert). There's lots of great stuff to grab tickets for, here are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":770,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/12\/real-new-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":704,"position":1},"title":"real “new” music","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been pondering Ron Blessinger's thoughts on the 2008-2009 season programming at the OSO, and the more I think about it, the more I wish there were not only works by living composers, but that there were works which have received their first performances at least since 1995. Why 1995?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "contemporary"","block_context":{"text":"contemporary","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/contemporary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/06\/oso-reviews-other-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":704,"position":2},"title":"oso reviews, other thoughts","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a round up of the reviews I've spotted of our weekend of Classical 8 series concerts, featuring the Adams Chamber Symphony. James McQuillen for the Oregonian: From the opening bars Saturday, it was obvious that the Chamber Symphony is a ferociously difficult piece, requiring virtuoso playing with crazy rhythms\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6347,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/10\/wall-street-journal-on-carnegie-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":704,"position":3},"title":"wall street journal on carnegie series","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From tomorrow's issue of the Wall Street Journal: Most of the concert offerings assembled by the orchestras are truly inventive, forging intriguing thematic links or presenting works considered dicey at the box office. On Wednesday, the Dallas Symphony will give the New York premiere of \"August 4, 1964\" for chorus,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":729,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/01\/acoustic-phenomenon\/","url_meta":{"origin":704,"position":4},"title":"acoustic phenomenon","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo credit: Charles Noble It's amazing, how different things can sound just by moving a few feet in any direction. I was up in the balcony this morning as the Adams Chamber Symphony was being rehearsed. I started in the Dress Circle. 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