Orchestra (Score) - Grade
4
SKU: HL.14027994
Composed by Poul Ruders.
Music Sales America.
Classical. Set. 86 pages.
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
#WH29830. Published by
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14027994).
ISBN
9788759864593.
New
York is the city which
fascinates and inspires
Ruders. Time and again he
goes back there to work.
'Manhattan Abstraction'
(1982) subtitles - a
symphonic skyline for
large orchestra - was
conceived there. Ruders'
Brittish colleague Oliver
Knussen defines the piece
as: - a performance of an
extraordinary
Morden-Times-like
construction. It is a
sort of symphonic
sculpture, which in the
composer's own words
words propels forth from
one particular
inspiration: the New York
profile, as seen from
Liberty Island, one icy
cold January day with
it's open, clear sky and
dazzling sun light.
'Manhatten Abstraction'
appears as an amalgam of
some of the
compositorical habits
found in present pieces.
For instance, are present
here compositorical ideas
and melodic loans from
'Capriccio Pian'e Forte',
2nd String Quartet(1979),
'Four Compositions'
(1980), and 2nd Piano
Sonata(1982). The
question at hand is
mainly concerned with the
enhanced elaboration of
Ruders' use of the
classic English
change-ringing system: a
permuting method
pre-determining the order
of tone-appearances and
/or tone groups; a serial
technique in other words.
In spite of the rigidly
fixed material, Ruders
somehow manages to chisel
out a personal expression
by way of emphasising
contrasting elements
already existing within
the material itself. The
spiky, repetitive
sections form a
counterpart to a more
human violin-solo. This
dialectical tension is -
as hinted by the title -
a symphonic abstraction
of a fascinating
metropolis; the most
beautiful and the
ugliest. The subtitle: a
symphonic skyline
reflects the musical
erection of the Manhattan
profile, which under the
clear sky, materializes
into the most powerful
and compelling man-made
sculpture on earth. Thus
'Manhattan Abstraction'
is a homage to, as well
as a vision of, this
giant contraption of
concrete, glass, and
chrome.
Oliver Hansen
