Music for Orchestra is a one-movement orchestral composition by the American composer Jerry Goldsmith. The piece was commissioned by Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony in 1970 and premiered later that year.

Style and composition

Lasting roughly eight minutes in performance, the dodecaphonic Music for Orchestra is composed in three connected sections developed from the same twelve-tone row: the "turbulent" first section, the "introspective" second section, and a climaxing, "very agitated" third section.

Inspiration

In the 2002 Telarc release of Music for Orchestra, Goldsmith commented on the work and his motivation for its composition:

Instrumentation

Music for Orchestra is scored for

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, two flutes, three oboes (3rd doubling

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

), three

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s (second doubling

E-flat clarinet The E-flat (E) clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, smaller than the more common B clarinet and pitched a perfect fourth higher. It is typically considered the sopranino or piccolo member of the clarinet family and is a transposing inst ...

), three

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s (3rd doubling

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

), four French horns, four trumpets, four trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

bongo drum Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

s, chimes,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

, maracas,

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

, suspended cymbals, tamtam, tambourine, timbales, triangle, vibraphone, wind machine,

wood block Woodblock or wood block may refer to: * Woodblock (instrument), a percussion musical instrument * Woodblock printing, a method of printing in which an image is carved into the surface of a piece of wood * Woodblock graffiti * Toy block Toy bloc ...

, & xylophone),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, piano (doubling on

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

), and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

( violins I & II, violas, violoncellos, and double basses).

Reception

Mark Swed of the '' Los Angeles Times'' described the piece as "an abstract 12-tone work reflecting the academic fashion of the time. Its style is essentially conservative, reminiscent of emotionally roiling Viennese modernism earlier in the century. Goldsmith says in the program notes that he had wanted to make a lot of noise. For eight minutes, he does. Compellingly and with skill." Swed added, "The orchestration is thick but clear, the sound is heavy but not especially dense. Rhythms seem to clench down, to hold you in their grip." ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' similarly lauded Goldsmith for exploring an "uncompromising harmonic idiom" and said the work is "as compact as it is powerfully emotive." Richard S. Ginell of the ''Los Angeles Times'' also praised the work, saying, "Written during a time of personal emotional upheaval, Music for Orchestra is a concise, inventive, exuberantly orchestrated canvas of distress."

Discography

A recording of Music for Orchestra, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Goldsmith, was released February 26, 2002 through Telarc and features Goldsmith's other orchestral works ''

Christus Apollo ''Christus Apollo: Cantata Celebrating the Eighth Day of Creation and the Promise of the Ninth'' is a cantata in four movements for narrator, mezzo-soprano, choir, and orchestra, based on a text by the science fiction author Ray Bradbury and com ...

'' and '' Fireworks: A Celebration of Los Angeles''.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Compositions by Jerry Goldsmith 1970 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra 20th-century classical music Twelve-tone compositions Music commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony