Symphony No. 4, subtitled ''Sinfonía romántica'' (Romantic Symphony) is an orchestral composition by
Carlos Chávez, composed in 1953.
History
The score was commissioned by and is dedicated to the
Louisville Orchestra, which premiered the work on 11 February 1953, conducted by the composer. After the first few performances, Chávez decided that the final
movement
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 ...
, though sound in itself, was not satisfactory as a conclusion to this symphony. Consequently, he composed a new finale in October 1953, and published the original movement as a separate work, titled ''Baile (cuadro sinfónico)'' (Dance, Symphonic Picture).
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for an orchestra of three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, three bassoons (third doubling contrabassoon), four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (three players), and strings.
Analysis
The Symphony is divided into three movements:
#Allegro
#Molto lento
#Vivo non troppo mosso
In contrast to the
Third Symphony, there are no formal innovations here. The symphony is in the key of A—a sort of
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
tonality—though the overall character is brighter and more optimistic than the Third Symphony. Chávez treats his material cyclically, which means that thematic elements reappear throughout all three movements.
Discography
* Carlos Chávez: ''Sinfonía india'', ''Sinfonía de Antígona'', ''Sinfonía romántica''. Stadium Symphony Orchestra, Carlos Chávez, cond. LP recording. Everest LPBR 6029 (monaural), SDBR 3029 (stereo).
os Angeles Everest Records, 1959. Reissued on CD (with the orchestra named as New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra), Philips Legendary Classics 422 305-2.
est Germany Philips Classics Productions, 1989. Reissued on CD, Everest EVC-9041. New York: Everest Records, 1996.
Stadium Symphony Orchestra" is the name taken by the New York Philharmonic for its summer performances in the Lewisohn Stadium.]
* Chávez: ''Sinfonía de Antígona'', Symphony No. 4 ''Sinfonía romántica''; Revueltas: ''Caminos'', ''Música para charlar'', ''Ventanas''. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Chávez); Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México (Revueltas);
Enrique Bátiz Campbell, Enrique Bátiz, cond. CD recording (stereo).
ASV Digital
ASV Records was a London-based record label set up by Harley Usill, founder of Argo Records, Decca producer and former Argo general manager, Kevin Daly, and producer Jack Boyce, after Argo's parent company Decca was bought by PolyGram in 1980. ...
CD DCA 653. London: Academy Sound and Vision Ltd., 1989. Repackaged with additional material, as Symphony no. 1 ''Sinfonía de Antigona'' (1933); Symphony no. 2 ''Sinfonía india'' (1935–36); ''
La hija de Cólquide
''La hija de Cólquide'' (also known by the English translation, ''The Daughter of Colchis'') is a ballet score composed by Carlos Chávez in 1943–44 on commission from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation for Martha Graham. The title r ...
'' = ''The Daughter of Colchis'': Symphonic Suite (1943); Symphony no. 4 ''Sinfonía romántica'' (1953); ''Baile'' = ''Dance: Symphonic Painting'' (1953). ASV CD DCA 1058. London: Academy Sound and Vision, 1999.
* ''The Six Symphonies of Carlos Chávez ''.
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México; Carlos Chávez, cond. 3-LP set (stereo). CBS Masterworks 32 31 0002 (32 11 0020, 32 11 0022, 32 11 0024). New York: CBS, 1967.
* ''The Six Symphonies of Carlos Chávez''.
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
;
Eduardo Mata
Eduardo Mata (5 September 19425 January 1995) was a Mexican conductor and composer.
Career
Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he ...
, cond. 3-LP set (stereo). Vox Cum Laude 3D-VCL 9032. New York: Moss Music Group, 1983. Reissued on 2-CD set as ''Carlos Chávez: The Complete Symphonies''. VoxBox2 CDX 5061. Hauppauge, New York: Moss Music Group, 1992.
* ''Música Méxicana'' Vol. 7: Chávez: ''Cantos de México'', ''Toccata for Orchestra'', ''Paisajes mexicanos'', ''La hija de Cólquide'', ''Baile (Cuadro sinfónico)''
he original fourth movement of Symphony No. 4 Claudia Coonce, oboe; The State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra; Enrique Bátiz, cond. CD recording (stereo). ASV Digital CD DCA 927. London: Academy Sound and Vision Ltd., 1995.
* ''
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
: Historical Recordings 1941–1961''. 12-CD set. West Hill Radio Archives WHRA-6048.
urope West Hill Radio Archives, 2013. CD 11 includes Chávez's Symphony No. 4, performed by the
New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein, recorded 8 February 1960 in
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
, New York City.
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
* Chávez, Carlos. 1959. ''Symphony No. 4: Sinfonía Romántica''. Hawkes Pocket Scores. London: Hawkes & Son.
*
Copland, Aaron. 1967
Letter to Carlos Chávez (28 July) "The Aaron Copland Collection ca. 1900–1990". The Library of Congress: American Memory website (Accessed 30 June 2012).
*
Goldman, Richard Franko. 1960. "Chávez: ''Sinfonía India'' (Symphony No. 2); ''Sinfonía de Antigona'' (Symphony No. 1); ''Sinfonía Romantica'' (Symphony No. 4). Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, cond. Carlos Chávez. Everest LPBR-6029". ''
The Musical Quarterly'' 46, no. 3 (July): 396–397.
*
Orbón, Julián. 1987a. "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez." (part 1) ''Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical'' 6, no. 21 (January–March): 63–75. Reprinted as "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez" in: Julián Orbón. ''En la esencia de los estilos y otros ensayos'', foreword by Julio Estrada, 148–58. Madrid: Editorial Colibrí, 2000. .
* Orbón, Julián. 1987b. "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez." (part 2). ''Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical'' 6, no. 22 (April–June): 81–91.
* Orbón, Julián. 2015. "Carlos Chávez's Symphonies", translated, introduced, and annotated by Leonora Saavedra. In ''Carlos Chávez and His World'', edited by Leonora Saavedra, 62–75. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. (cloth); . Translated from the Spanish liner notes for ''Chávez: The Complete Symphonies'', London Symphony Orchestra, Eduardo Mata (cond.). Peerless Records, 1982.
* Parker, Robert L. 1983. ''Carlos Chávez, Mexico's Modern-Day Orpheus''. Twayne's Music Series. Boston: Twayne Publishers. .
* Parker, Robert. 2001. "Chávez (y Ramírez), Carlos (Antonio de Padua)". ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'', second edition, edited by
Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
and
John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
* Rickards, Guy. 2013.
Chávez Symphonies 1–6. ''
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 ...
'' (9 January).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Symphony No. 4 (Chavez)
04
Chávez 4
1953 compositions
Music commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra
Music dedicated to ensembles or performers