Orchestra violin, piano
SKU: CF.B3470
Composed by Julia Perry.
Set of Score and Parts.
26+13 pages. Duration 17
minutes. Carl Fischer
Music #B3470. Published
by Carl Fischer Music
(CF.B3470).
ISBN
9781491159460. UPC:
680160918058.
The
awardee of two Guggenheim
fellowships, Julia Perry
studied composition with
Luigi Dallapiccola and
Nadia Boulanger, and
conducted her works on a
tour throughout Europe
with the Vienna
Philharmonic and the BBC
Orchestra. She would
become one of the first
African-American female
composers to have an
orchestral work performed
by the New York
Philharmonic. Although
she had an auspicious and
promising career in her
early life, it was
tragically cut short by a
series of strokes leading
to partial paralysis and
eventually, her death, at
age 55 in
1979.Perry’s
catalog is widely varied,
featuring thirteen
symphonies, numerous
chamber and solo works,
pieces for band, choral
and vocal music, and four
operas. Her Violin
Concerto, completed in
1968, shows the influence
of Dallapiccola’s
teachings: sharp harmonic
dissonances organized
around specific pitch
centers, short repetitive
patterns that establish
significant musical
materials, and
contrapuntal textures.
Her fastidious
performance markings in
the solo violin part
indicate her profound
understanding of the
instrument. Angular,
muscled, and sparkling by
turns, this piece is a
sophisticated entry to
the serious violinist's
concert repertoire.There
is no evidence or
documentation that the
Violin Concerto was ever
premiered or performed
during her lifetime,
despite the fact that the
composer prepared a full
score, piano reduction
and orchestral parts.
Regrettably, this is the
case with the majority of
her works composed in the
final decade of her
life.
What is
extraordinary about Julia
Perry’s musical
career was the
astonishing success she
attained in her early
years. In her youth she
studied piano, voice,
violin and cello. She
began to compose in her
teenage years, her first
publication being a
choral work in 1947 by
Carl Fischer. Her Stabat
Mater was published in
1951 and would become one
of her most often
performed pieces, with
performances in Europe
and the United States. In
1953 she was awarded a
Guggenheim fellowship to
study with the Italian
composer Luigi
Dallapiccola, first at
the Berkshire Music
Center in Tanglewood,
later in Florence, Italy.
During this time, she
also pursued studies with
Nadia Boulanger in Paris
and was awarded a second
Guggenheim fellowship.
She studied conducting at
this time, touring Europe
in 1957 to conduct her
own works with the Vienna
Philharmonic and the BBC
Orchestra. During her
European sojourns, she
learned and mastered
French, German and
Italian. She would become
one of the first
African-American female
composers to have an
orchestral work performed
by the New York
Philharmonic.Perryâ€
s circumstances would
change dramatically once
she reached forty years
of age, having returned
permanently to the United
States. At some point in
the spring of 1970, she
suffered the first of two
strokes that would
paralyze her right side
and confine her to a
wheelchair for the rest
of her life. Nonetheless,
she continued to compose
and to promote her works
with publishers and
conductors. A second
stroke contributed to her
death in 1979 at age 55.
She likely endured harsh
ethnic and gender
discrimination in the
course of her career, and
her later years would
witness a period of
extreme civil unrest.
These matters and the
significance of music in
her life are undoubtedly
what led her to say,
“Music has a great
role to play in
establishing the
brotherhood of
man.â€Perry’s
catalog is widely varied,
featuring thirteen
symphonies, numerous
chamber and solo works,
pieces for band, choral
and vocal music, and four
operas. Her Violin
Concerto, completed in
1968, is indicative of
the influence of
Dallapiccola’s
teachings: sharp harmonic
dissonances organized
around specific pitch
centers, short repetitive
patterns that establish
significant musical
materials, and
contrapuntal textures.
The work is a single
movement of 392 measures
organized around three
alternating tempos: Slow
(Å’ = 60), Moderate
(Å’ = 84) and Fast
(Å’ = 120). The
opening thirty-measure
cadenza for the solo
violin introduces most of
the thematic material for
the piece. The
orchestration commonly
features antiphonal
writing between
orchestral groups, for
example, strings
alternating with brass,
or strings alternating
with winds. The harp and
piano generally appear as
solo instruments, rather
than as members of the
orchestra. Her fastidious
performance markings in
the solo violin part
indicate her profound
understanding of the
instrument.There is no
evidence or documentation
that the Violin Concerto
was ever premiered or
performed during her
lifetime, despite the
fact that the composer
prepared a full score,
piano reduction and
orchestral parts.
Regrettably, this is the
case with the majority of
her works composed in the
final decade of her
life.
The Brotherhood of War
