''Supplica'' is a short composition for

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 ...

by the American composer Christopher Rouse. It was jointly commissioned by the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Pittsburgh, Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Sy ...

and the

Pacific Symphony The Pacific Symphony is a symphony orchestra located in Orange County, California. The orchestra performs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall as a part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. From 1987 to 2016 ...

. The first performance of the piece was given in

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts Heinz Hall is a performing arts center and concert hall located at 600 Penn Avenue in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the 2,676 se ...

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by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under conductor Juraj Valcuha on April 4, 2014. Rouse, Christopher (2014)
Supplica: Program Note by the Composer
Retrieved July 14, 2015.

Composition

''Supplica'' is composed in a single movement and has a duration of roughly 10 minutes.

Background

Rouse composed the piece in the fall 2013 as in informal "companion piece" to his Symphony No. 4, completed earlier that year. The title of the work means "supplication" in the

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...

, though Rouse has remained deliberately ambiguous as to the meaning of the piece. He wrote in the score program notes:

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a small orchestra comprising four

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, two

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s, three

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

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 ...

, and

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Reception

Reviewing the world premiere, Elizabeth Bloom of the ''

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'' described the composition as "affecting" and wrote, "Featuring a pared-down orchestra without woodwinds or percussion, it opened with slow, quiet violas and plucked harp, a motif that returned later. Haunting strings filled in to create beauty both visceral and jarring; that disturbing quality grew with the volume of added instruments, with brass entering last." Bloom continued, "A surprising explosion of dissonance in the largely lyrical piece appeared suddenly, like an unpleasant memory. The piece ultimately fades to silence — a moving ending in line with the rest of the work. The layers suggested more opportunities to listen to ''Supplica'' would be rewarding." Bob Karlovits of the ''

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'' similarly said it "was filled with lush, shifting harmonies." Reviewing the

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premiere with Pacific Symphony, Timothy Mangan of the ''

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'' remarked, "It’s a somber and serious work, a Mahlerian adagio some 14 minutes in length, prayerful, hopeful, earnest, but tinged with darkness and dissonance and agitation." He added, "The whole piece is as if laboring toward this light, but it never quite gets there, ending with a hazy question mark."

References

{{Christopher Rouse Compositions by Christopher Rouse 2013 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra Music commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music commissioned by the Pacific Symphony