The Symphony No. 7 by
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University.
Life
Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...
is a
symphony dating from
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Jan ...
.
History
Piston's Seventh Symphony was commissioned by the
Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and was premiered by that orchestra, conducted by
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...
, on February 10, 1961. The symphony was awarded a
Pulitzer Prize in 1961, which was the second time for Piston—his first was in 1948 for his
Third Symphony. It bears some resemblance to Piston's ''
Three New England Sketches'', composed in 1959, and for this reason as well as for parallels of structure has been compared to
Beethoven's ''
Pastorale
Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood.
In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the tradi ...
'' Symphony.
Analysis
The work is 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 ...
:
#Con moto
#Adagio pastorale
#Allegro festevole
When Piston was composing his Seventh Symphony, he took into account the particular sonic character of the Philadelphia Orchestra's rich
string timbres, as well as the acoustics of the
Philadelphia Academy of Music
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its location is between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of ...
where it was to be premiered.
The first movement begins with a large, soaring theme, featuring a propulsive rhythm in fast
triple meter
Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...
. The
minor mode, forceful rhythms, and cumulative
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
density in both the
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
* Expository writing
** Exposition (narrative)
* Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade e ...
and
recapitulation lend this movement a vehemently passionate character. The second movement, Adagio pastorale, similarly is dominated by serious but not solemn broad melodies. The finale, as in Piston's other symphonies, is sunny and brilliant, including a passage of
syncopated wind melodies accompanied by pianissimo percussion, and
pizzicato
Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument :
* On bowe ...
strings, which recalls the
scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...
of Piston's
Sixth Symphony.
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
Taylor, Clifford. 1964. "Walter Piston: For His Seventieth Birthday". ''
Perspectives of New Music'' 3, no. 1 (Fall–Winter): 102–114.
{{Authority control, state=collapsed
Symphony No. 7
1960 compositions
Pulitzer Prize for Music-winning works
Music commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra