For his Second Concerto for Orchestra, Steven Stucky created a musical alphabet by assigning musical notes to letters, allowing him to embed names like LAP (Los Angeles Philharmonic) and GEHRY (Frank Gehry, architect) into the music.
Composition History
Steven Stucky's Second Concerto for Orchestra, which received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for music, was the culmination of over three decades of collaboration between the composer and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Performer Biography
David Alan Miller, the conductor, is a GRAMMY Award-winner and has been the music director of the Albany Symphony since 1992, known for his work with American contemporary music.
Compositional Technique
In Sun-Treader, Carl Ruggles utilized atonal methods, attempting to write melodies where no note was repeated until a large number (usually seven to twelve) had been used, and employing three-note sets.
Album & Artwork
This album is the third recording in a multi-year partnership between the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic and Naxos, aiming to release one album of American music each year.
Composition History
Carl Ruggles's Sun-Treader was begun in 1926 for a concert to be conducted by Edgard Varèse for the International Composers' Guild, but it was not completed until 1931.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Carl Ruggles's Sun-Treader takes its title from Robert Browning's 1832 poem 'Pauline,' specifically the image of 'giant, loping steps' evoked by the word 'Sun-treader.'
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