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''Rhapsodies for Orchestra'' is a single-movement
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
l composition by the American composer
Steven Stucky. The work was jointly commissioned by the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
for the Philharmonic's European tour in August and September 2008. The piece had its world premiere August 28, 2008 in
Royal Albert Hall at
The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, with the New York Philharmonic performing under
conductor Lorin Maazel.
[ Stucky, Steven (2008)]
Rhapsodies for Orchestra: Program Note by the Composer
Retrieved May 4, 2015.
Composition
In approaching Stucky with the commission for a new piece, Maazel suggested to Stucky that the composition be "something rhapsodic". Stucky later wrote, "I ran to the dictionary for help. The more I thought about the words ''rhapsody'' and ''rhapsodic''—words I would never have chosen to describe my music—the more I realized that boundaries are meant to be pushed, and that an external, even foreign stimulus like 'rhapsodic' could be just the ticket to push mine." Stucky further described the composition in the score program notes, writing:
Reception
Reviewing the December 2011
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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premiere, music critic John von Rhein praised ''Rhapsodies for Orchestra'', writing, "In a series of interlocking episodes, the solo flute, English horn, horn and trumpet found themselves echoed and mimicked by other instruments and groups. Swirls of orchestral color were infused with quirky rhythmic vitality.
Van Zweden and the
CSO brought the 10-minute piece to life most enjoyably." Katie Womack of the ''
Dallas Observer
''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'' similarly praised the piece at its
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
premiere, commenting, "The dynamics of this piece range from intimate to bombastic and the juxtaposition of those extremes created some stunning sounds in the
Meyerson. At only ten minutes, Stucky's ''Rhapsodies'' left me wanting more."
Anthony Tommasini
Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' also lauded the work, remarking:
Jeffrey Gantz of ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' was more critical, describing the piece as "a series of ecstatic outbursts in which one instrument essays an idea and others take it up." Gantz added that it "worked out better in theory than in practice, though I liked the section in which the viola crooned over the orchestra’s 12-note ostinato." Likewise, Lawrence A. Johnson of the ''Chicago Classical Review'' called it "not one of Stucky’s more essential pieces" and noted that "Stucky’s debt to
Witold Lutosławski
Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...
asat times glaringly evident."
Music critic Carla Rees similarly opined:
References
{{Italic title
Compositions by Steven Stucky
2008 compositions
21st-century classical music
Rhapsodies
Compositions for symphony orchestra
Music commissioned by the BBC
Music commissioned by the New York Philharmonic