Twentieth Century

Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes: Klezmer Conversations

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When the February Revolution of 1917 broke out in Petrograd, Sergei Prokofiev resettled in the United States, stating that his native Russia “had no use for music at the moment.” Soon after arriving in New York, the 28-year-old Prokofiev received a commission from Zimro, a touring Soviet ensemble made up of Russian Jewish immigrants. The new sextet was to be based on themes from a notebook of Jewish folksongs. In his autobiography, …

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Ingram Marshall’s “Wanderer’s Night Song”: Hymnodic Twilight Meditations

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“The all too familiar hymns of my childhood have come back to haunt me,” wrote American composer Ingram Marshall (1942-2022) above the program note for his 1992 work for string quartet, Evensongs. Marshall went on to describe the six sections of Evensongs as “hymnodic meditations” concerning twilight. The concluding section, Fast falls the eventide: Wanderer’s Night Song is haunting and atmospheric. Frequently, Marshall blended elements of minimalism and electronic music (listen to the 1982 Fog …

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Holst’s “Nunc Dimittis”: Homage to Renaissance Polyphony

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English composer Gustav Holst found inspiration, not only in the folk music of his native land, but also in the early music of William Byrd and Palestrina. Nunc dimittis for eight-part choir is Holst’s homage to Renaissance polyphony. Composed in 1915 for Richard Terry, organist of Westminster Cathedral, the work was performed on Easter Sunday of that year, and then fell into obscurity. It existed in manuscript form until publication in 1979. This …

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The Vocalise: Music of André Previn and John Williams

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Free of the literal meaning of a text, the wordless vocalise floats into a dreamy and surreal landscape. In André Previn’s Vocalise, the singer enters into a haunting musical conversation with the solo cello and the instrumental voices of the orchestra. Composed at Tanglewood on July 18, 1995 for Sylvia McNair and Yo Yo Ma, the work was originally scored for voice, cello, and piano, and was orchestrated later. Previn, the German-American pianist, …

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Poulenc’s Violin Sonata: A Wartime Elegy

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Francis Poulenc’s Violin Sonata is music born out of war and tragedy. It is one of a series of defiant, politically charged works Poulenc composed between 1942 and 1943 while remaining in occupied France.* The Sonata was dedicated to the Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca, who was arrested, imprisoned without trial, and executed by Falangist forces during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Poulenc, who wrote numerous chamber pieces …

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John Adams’ “China Gates”: The Hypnotic Patter of Rain

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For American composer John Adams (b. 1947), the inspiration for the solo piano work, China Gates, came on an endlessly rainy day in San Francisco during the winter of 1977. Adams recalls the gentle, hypnotic patter of the rain hitting the roof of his cottage near the Pacific Ocean. This natural counterpoint gave rise to the repetitive patterns of China Gates, a brief companion composition to Adams’ Phrygian Gates, composed during the same period. “Gates,” …

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John Adams’ “Harmonium”: A Choral Symphony on Donne and Dickinson

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Harmonium, a towering choral symphony set in three movements, is one of the earliest major works of American composer John Adams (b. 1947). It was composed in 1980 for the opening season of Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony. Following such pieces as Common Tones in Simple Time and Phrygian Gates, it is music which expands on the pulse-and-pattern Minimalism of Steve Reich.’ The titles of the three poems …

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