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Night Dances, op. 114 (1970)
Vincent Persichetti:
"Lines of poetry, floating about in my head, seemed to suggest a kind of music that flourished in the fertile climate of the Symphony [Sinfonia Janiculum, op. 113 (1970)]. I believe these two companion pieces are linked spiritually, but subconsciously.
"As in my three volumes of Poems for Piano (1939), each of the seven sections reflects, or parallels, the mood of a single line recalled from a poem ... The music is a parallel of these specific lines only, and has nothing necessarily to do with the respective poems in their entirety (though my choice of title may have been influenced by that of the Sylvia Plath poem quoted in the penultimate section).
"These Night Dances do have to do with what we all dream in a different reality from that of our waking thoughts. In dreams things appear, bidden or unbidden, as an underside of something made of a fabric that will hold together because it is part fantasy. These seven pieces form a crystal created by a melodic pair of dew drops."
Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987) was a prolific composer of music integrating a wide range of materials and techniques. Best known for his many works for wind ensemble and keyboard instruments, Persichetti's output also included one opera, nine symphonies, four string quartets, and a considerable quantity of chamber, solo, and vocal music. Over the course of his career he composed two ongoing series of pieces: 15 Serenades for a variety of instrumental groupings, and 25 Parables, "non-programmatic musical essays about a single germinal idea" (Persichetti). The composer once described his work as a combination of 'graceful' and 'gritty' styles.
Persichetti was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began making music at the age of five, enrolling at the Combs College of Music and studying piano, organ, double bass, tuba, theory, and composition. At 11 years of age Persichetti was already supporting his education through work as a professional musician; five years later he took a post as choir director and organist at the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, where he remained for nearly two decades. Persichetti earned his first degree in composition in 1935, and considered his principal teacher Russel King Miller an important influence on his work. He continued on at Combs College as head of theory and composition while studying piano with Olga Samaroff and composition with Paul Nordoff at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, and conducting with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music.
In 1941 Persichetti became head of the theory and composition departments at Philadelphia Conservatory; six years later he joined the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, eventually chairing its composition department in 1963. From 1952 he also served as editorial director for the Elkan-Vogel publishing firm. Among Persichetti's many commissions were orchestras in Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis, the Koussevitsky and Naumburg Foundations, American Guild of Organists, Martha Graham Dance Company, and Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival. He received three Guggenheim Fellowships, the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award, Columbia Records Chamber Music Award, Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, Medal of Honor from the Italian government, and Philadelphia Art Alliance Medal for Distinguished Achievement. He authored the book Twentieth Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice (1961).
Persichetti's music is widely recorded on the Albany, Coronet, CRI, Crystal, harmonia mundi, Klavier, Koch International Classics, Laurel, Music & Arts, New World, Ongaku, Titanic labels.
related websites
http://www.presser.com/Composers/info.cfm?Name=VINCENTPERSICHETTI
The Juilliard Orchestra is comprised of students of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City and led by James DePriest, director of conducting and orchestral studies at Juilliard. The orchestra regularly performs at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and has toured throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong. In 1987 it was the first Western conservatory ensemble to visit and perform in the People's Republic of China after the end of the Cultural Revolution. The orchestra was resident ensemble at the Evian Festival, France in 1992 and the Festival dei due Monde in Spoleto, Italy in 2003 and 2004. It has recorded for the Citadel, Delos, EMI Classics, New World labels.
related websites
http://www.juilliard.edu/college/music/performance_orchestras.html
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