World Premiere! on The Los Angeles Philharmonic

Tonight at 7:00 on The Evening Concert it’s the Los Angeles Philharmonic with the first in a new season of broadcasts. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel leads the group in

Ravel’s “Pavane for a Dead Princess” as well as Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”. Also on the program the World Premiere of Steven Stuckey’s “Symphony” (composed 2012).

 

Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
RAVEL: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Steven STUCKY (b. 1949): Symphony (World Premiere; LA Philharmonic co-commission)
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring

"Symphony" by Stucky comprises four movements lasting approximately 20 minutes and features a number of solo passages for woodwinds. "It starts in a dark and pessimistic way and becomes light and bright and optimistic as it goes," Stucky explained. "It has an emotional arc, and not one I knew I was making until halfway through." The actual composing of the symphony took place in a relatively short burst from January to early July, said the composer. "The only way for me to compose is intensively," he explained. "To pick at it over a long period doesn't seem to work."
Stucky won the Pulitzer for music in 2005 for his Second Concerto for Orchestra, which was also commissioned by the L.A. Philharmonic. His body of work — including "Radical Light," "Silent Spring" and numerous other instrumental works — is notable for its mood shifts and tonal diversity as well as its accessibility.

(Image by Lawrence K. Ho., Los Angeles Times)