The Symphony No. 1 of

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

is a symphony in three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

, in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

. The three movements are as follows: #Giusto #Largo #

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton * ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...

vivace It was completed in January 1927,Prausnitz, page 83. and premiered by

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

and the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

on April 22, 1927. It was dedicated to Sessions' father Archibald. It is scored for three

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s (one doubling piccolo), three

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s (one 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 ...

), four

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, 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, four

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s, three

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 ...

s, one

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, 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 ...

. Andrea Olmstead describes all of Sessions's symphonies as "serious" and "funereal". In contrast, Prausnitz describes this symphony as having "a joyfully jazzy, organized vigor in its fast outer movements," in contrast with the middle movement, "a somberly reflective Largo that yields nothing to overt emotion. ..."Prausnitz, page 82.

Discography

*''Roger Sessions: Symphony No. 1; William Bergsma: Music on a Quiet Theme; Russell Smith: Tetrameron''. Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra hon Firuhamoni Kokyo Gakudan Akeo Watanabe, cond. (Sessions and Smith); William Strickland, cond. (Bergsma). LP recording, 1 disc: analog, monaural, 33⅓ 12 in. CRI 131. New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1960. Reissued as part of
Roger Sessions: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3
'. CD recording, 1 disc: analog/digital, 4¾ in., stereo. CRI Records, CR573. New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1990. Reissued again on CD as New World Records NWCR573. New York: Recorded Anthology of American Music, Inc., 2007.

References

Sources

* Anonymous.
Roger Sessions
. Theodore Presser website (accessed 29 August 2015). * Olmstead, Andrea. ''Roger Sessions: A Biography''. New York: Routledge, 2012. . * Prausnitz, Frederik. ''Roger Sessions: How a "Difficult" Composer Got That Way''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. * Sessions, Roger.
Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3
'. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. CRI Records, CR573. New York: Composers Recordings Inc., 1990. Reissued as NWCR573 by Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc., 2007. Cited on DRAM website (accessed 18 August 2015).

Discography

References

Sources

Further reading