The Symphony No. 4 of Roger Sessions was composed in 1958. It has three movements: #Burlesque #Elegy #Pastorale It was commissioned by the

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

for the Minnesota Centennial, and premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti on January 2, 1960. The second movement's basically slow tempo is interrupted twice by faster episodes. This movement was intended as an elegy for the composer's brother, John, who died in 1948. The finale, also slow, increases in intensity towards its close.

Andrea Olmstead Andrea Olmstead (born September 5, 1948) is an American musicologist and historian. Reared in Grand Forks,North Dakota, Olmstead studied violin with Burton Kaplan in New York and with Lea Foli at the Aspen Music Festival; she was a member of the ...

describes all of Sessions's symphonies as "serious" and "funereal".Olmstead, Andrea (2012). ''Roger Sessions: A Biography'', p.356. Routledge. .

Discography

*''Roger Sessions: Symphony No. 4, Symphony No. 5, Rhapsody for Orchestra''. Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Christian Badea, cond. Recorded April 6, 1986, at the Ohio Theatre, Columbus Ohio. LP recording, 1 disc: digital, stereo, 12 in. New World NW 345-1; CD recording, 1 disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. New World NW 345-2. New York: Recorded Anthology of American Music, 1987.

Discography

References

Further reading