Page 396 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 396
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
types are “high rate of eventuation”, “almost static yet pulsating constella-
tion-like patterns”, and “action in very slow motion”. It is these three types
of continuity that are the building bricks of the structure within which the
music operates. While the serial structure can be discerned clearly in the
exhilarating Allegro con brio sections, it can also be determined in the slow-
er more contemplative passages which frequently develop with overlapping
long-held notes. Although the progress of the music has sometimes been
described as athematic in the sense that there is little sense of melodic pas-
sages being repeated or recapitulated, and there are few single line extended
melodic phrases, a new kind of thematicism has been presented by Darren
Sproston,47 which can help us to comprehend this single-movement struc-
ture of 22–23 minutes’ duration. That these points are very important is em-
phatically made clear in a concise way by Wallace Berry in his review of the
published score: “Roberto Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra seems to me a
work of vast importance, not alone because of its explorations of new and
intriguing colors and devices, but as much because of the power and im-
pact of its musical substance and the skill with which it is constructed.”48
The Symphony No.4 “New York”, like its three predecessors, breaks
much new ground, and like the Concerto for Orchestra, it was launched in-
ternationally. The commission came from the New York Philharmonic Or-
chestra as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, and first performed by
the orchestra under William Steinberg on 14 December 1967. The first Eu-
ropean performance was given in Sweden by the Stockholm Philharmonic
under Antal Doráti on 27 October 1968, and the first performance in Eng-
land by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis on 4 December
1968 in London.49 The work can be seen as a synthesis of all the features of
Gerhard’s mature style. Like the Concerto for Orchestra it operates with
a number of different contrasting types of continuity: fast-moving, static
with rapid patterning, and slow with time suspended. In addition it weaves
47 Darren Sproston, “Thematicism in Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra,” Tempo, 184
(March 1993): 18–22, ingeniously defines the thematic nature of the work as both
melodic and textural, operating on two planes, horizontal (pitch content, interval
content, rhythm and melodic shape) and vertical (textures, chords). He identifies the
opening as a textural “ritornello” which recurs in various guises and a melodic brass
phrase which also recurs, helping to define the structure.
48 Wallace Berry, “Concerto for Orchestra by Roberto Gerhard,” Notes, Second Series,
23/4 (1967): 836–837.
49 The work was recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis on ZRG
701 (London: Decca/Argo, 1972), and reissued on SRCD 274 (Burnham, Bucks, UK:
Lyrita, 2008)
394
types are “high rate of eventuation”, “almost static yet pulsating constella-
tion-like patterns”, and “action in very slow motion”. It is these three types
of continuity that are the building bricks of the structure within which the
music operates. While the serial structure can be discerned clearly in the
exhilarating Allegro con brio sections, it can also be determined in the slow-
er more contemplative passages which frequently develop with overlapping
long-held notes. Although the progress of the music has sometimes been
described as athematic in the sense that there is little sense of melodic pas-
sages being repeated or recapitulated, and there are few single line extended
melodic phrases, a new kind of thematicism has been presented by Darren
Sproston,47 which can help us to comprehend this single-movement struc-
ture of 22–23 minutes’ duration. That these points are very important is em-
phatically made clear in a concise way by Wallace Berry in his review of the
published score: “Roberto Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra seems to me a
work of vast importance, not alone because of its explorations of new and
intriguing colors and devices, but as much because of the power and im-
pact of its musical substance and the skill with which it is constructed.”48
The Symphony No.4 “New York”, like its three predecessors, breaks
much new ground, and like the Concerto for Orchestra, it was launched in-
ternationally. The commission came from the New York Philharmonic Or-
chestra as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, and first performed by
the orchestra under William Steinberg on 14 December 1967. The first Eu-
ropean performance was given in Sweden by the Stockholm Philharmonic
under Antal Doráti on 27 October 1968, and the first performance in Eng-
land by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis on 4 December
1968 in London.49 The work can be seen as a synthesis of all the features of
Gerhard’s mature style. Like the Concerto for Orchestra it operates with
a number of different contrasting types of continuity: fast-moving, static
with rapid patterning, and slow with time suspended. In addition it weaves
47 Darren Sproston, “Thematicism in Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra,” Tempo, 184
(March 1993): 18–22, ingeniously defines the thematic nature of the work as both
melodic and textural, operating on two planes, horizontal (pitch content, interval
content, rhythm and melodic shape) and vertical (textures, chords). He identifies the
opening as a textural “ritornello” which recurs in various guises and a melodic brass
phrase which also recurs, helping to define the structure.
48 Wallace Berry, “Concerto for Orchestra by Roberto Gerhard,” Notes, Second Series,
23/4 (1967): 836–837.
49 The work was recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis on ZRG
701 (London: Decca/Argo, 1972), and reissued on SRCD 274 (Burnham, Bucks, UK:
Lyrita, 2008)
394
