CHARLES WUORINEN
Orchestra Music
CONCERTO FOR SAXOPHONE QUARTET AND ORCHESTRA (1992-93)
Wuorinen’s score was written for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet, an excellent German
ensemble, which has been doing its best to beef up an admittedly scant repertory. In two
intricately interlocked movements, the concerto is a demanding piece for players and
listeners alike--but it is not, let it be stressed, a piece that offers no hope for the
mainstream audience. The key to unlocking the piece is disarmingly traditional. Listeners
who tune their ears to the quartet (i.e., the soloist) stand a better-than-fair chance of
following Wuorinen’s music through to a sizzling finale. In his notes, the composer
explains that "the solo ensemble, considered as a single entity, behaves very much
like the concertino group from a yet older tradition (i.e., that of the Baroque concerto
grosso), as it plays against the ripieno of the orchestra." Here Wuorinen tells us a
simple truth about a complex score. It also explains why he did not choose to exploit the
coloristic potential of the quartet in a bolder manner. Its members play, almost always,
as a choir, while the orchestra engages in various sorts of riot and mayhem behind the
solo ensemble, including Wuorinen’s own version of "a thousand points of
light," by which one means his lavish, quasi-pointillistic orchestration. Also
noteworthy is that this score sounds as if the pulse is steady, a lot of the time. First
hearings sans score perusal are tough, but this listener can say that some of the
quartet’s cool and quiet moments in the first movement, as well as a few of this
score’s ferocious outbursts, are likely to stick in the memory. But would one
describe this concerto as an easy piece? Assuredly not. Is it audience-friendly? No, not
particularly — although one may suggest that the composer is audience-respectful by
refusing to "write down" to anybody.
Michael Redmond, The Star-Ledger
GENESIS (1989) for chorus and orchestra "in San Francisco, Wuorinen's big new cantata GENESIS, commissioned by the San Francisco, Minnesota and Honolulu orchestras, has had its premiere, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt (who had suggested its composition), Three movements: settings of chant incipits concerned with creation (Kyrie orbis factor etc.) of Genesis I (in the Vulgate), and a burst of Alleluias with a Cantate domino canticum novum as the climax. Between them, two orchestral interludes, the first flowing and lovely, the second a Big Bang generating waves of energy that subside into peacefulness. Gregorian chant provides the themes; rhythmic reordering, transpositions, chromatic inflections, and intricate instrumental counterpoints make them rich and exciting. The first movement has been called "a series of celebratory starbursts"; the Cantata dominum is an ecstatic dance; there is much lyrically beautiful music. A joyful, exuberant Hymn of Praise is unexpected in these days. This is an exhilarating composition." Andrew Porter, The Financial Times
MACHAULT MON CHOU (1988) "A brilliantly orchestrated 20th century recollection of the bold musical manner of the 14th century composer. By offering elements, phrases, gestures simultaneously, Wuorinen good-naturedly seemed to be presenting all of Machault's work at once. The three movements provided changing moods. The performance implied homage, parody, admiration and exploration." Philadelphia Inquirer "A charming, evocative, colorful piece" Atlanta Journal Constitution "This proved to be a work of unusual power and appeal, with wonderful rhythms and haunting harmonies." San Diego Union "The II -minute score is a loving transmutation, as charmingly impudent as its title ... splashed across an orchestral canvas that is resolutely 20th century, with full brass choir and a battery of percussion." San Francisco Chronicle
BAMBOULA BEACH (1987) an overture "Lively tunes that are heard as single glittering gestures are ... hocketed forth exuberantly ... Steel drums are prominent in one episode; toward the end the trumpet plays a popular tune. But what matters most is the energy of the inventions that dance through the score, the liveliness of the textures, and captivating shifts of 'perspective'. At times, the music seems suddenly to have moved further away; then a new idea strikes up in the foreground. BAMBOULA BEACH, although short - it lasts about seven minutes - is an important piece ... BAMBOULA BEACH is substantial, although it does have "lightness of spirit"" Andrew Porter, The New Yorker "An exhilarating, festive, six minute tour-de-force for large orchestra." Miami Herald
FIVE: Concerto for Amplified Cello and Orchestra (1987) "Without doubt one of the festival's most distinguished musical events...Wuorinen remains a leading light of American contemporary music." New York Times "Another distinguished score from Charles Wuorinen." Financial Times "This is a five-movement score of energetic yet refined invention--exuberant." T7te New Yorker "One of Wuorinen's most engaging works ... The sense of fun tamed only by Wuorinen's irrepressible lyricism." San Francisco Examiner
THE GOLDEN DANCE (1986) "This work has what it takes to lead and excite active minds and willing spirits ... THE GOLDEN DANCE draws in the listener, with sensuous sonorities, both rich and bright." San Francisco Chronicle "The San Franciscans opened the evening with THE GOLDEN DANCE, a substantial new score by Charles Wuorinen ... It is an exuberant two-part piece full of tingling sounds and powerful rhetoric backed by Wuorinen's typically tough-minded thinking and careful workmanship." Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine "THE GOLDEN DANCE, a two-movement tone poem, drifts from dreamy but restless hints of tumult to clashing outbursts of street-struts." Leighton Kerner, Village Voice
MOVERS AND SHAKERS (1984) "MOVERS AND SHAKERS has passages of aching lyricism, and many moments of sheer visceral excitement. This is a big, bustling work; teeming with energy and intelligence." Tim Page, New York Times "A major new piece by the respected American composer ... alternating moments of luminously orchestrated calm and energetic brilliance ... Any orchestra that wants to advertise its in-depth bench strength would be advised to investigate MOVERS AND SHAKERS" Cleveland Plain Dealer "Wuorinen's splendid MOVERS AND SHAKERS ... an aural feast that focuses on the orchestra's solo, sectional and ensemble virtuosity...is composed of pungent and colorful textures and instrumental lines that are clearly and forcefully deployed. There is never the sense, as in many contemporary works, that the note are piled up to cover up a lack of ideas ... Sometimes it screams in nervous fits, sometimes it sings with ethereal beauty. The music's communicative power lies in its rhythmic vitality, its economy of gesture and its extremes of mood. The car is always engaged by Wuorinen's alluring, startling shaping of materials and shimmering use of instruments." Akron Beacon Journal
CROSSFIRE (1984) "This is a brilliant, energetic score, dominated ... by utterances of the brasses, and it becomes increasingly interesting when, toward the close, there are surprises of texture, of gait, and of harmony." Andrew Porter, The New Yorker "The center of interest was Charles Wuorinen's CROSSFIRE, a highly charged, emphatic 12minute piece ... CROSSFIRE brims with bright primary colors." New York Times
BAMBOULA SQUARED for Orchestra and Computer Generated Sound (1984) "Big and splashy, rhythmically exciting...BAMBOULA packs a punch." Denver Post "Wuorinen writes music that breathes ... He is a skilled craftsman who writes with intelligence, sincerity and heart." San Francisco Examiner "Bursting with fun!" The Atlantic "Sixteen minutes of energetic, exhilarating music ... There's something sunlike about Wuorinen's best works: he cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course." Andrew Porter, The New Yorker
RHAPSODY for Violin and Orchestra (1983) "Wuorinen has produced a bold piece that comes out and addresses an audience assertively and originally ... RHAPSODY catches and holds the attention and plays to an audience." San Francisco Chronicle "A substantial and startling work ... The solo part often leaps wide intervals, sometimes indulges in elegiac excursions, but it is also intrinsically violinistic in character, with episodes of rapid passagework recalling nothing so much as down-home fiddling." San Francisco Examiner
THIRD PIANO CONCERTO (1983) written for pianist Garrick Ohlsson, and already performed by more than a dozen orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra among others. At its premiere, the concerto was hailed as "the most original for the piano since Bartok. " "The work is like a huge piano piece in which the orchestra supplies an extension of the instrument's timbres and dynamics. It's energetic, packed with ideas, exhilarating. There's a vigorous first movement; a highly developed slow movement with beautiful sonorities (the orchestra has a more nearly independent role), eloquent lines, and powerful harmonies; and a trenchant finale." Andrew Porter, The New Yorker
SHORT SUITE (198 1) "When composer Charles Wuorinen gave the downbeat, it was as if someone had thrown an electric switch ... Think of an electrical force field radiating energy. 'That is Wuorinen's SHORT SUITE. This is music somehow connected with the very life force, somehow vital and alive, making us feel more vital and alive as we experience it." Milwaukee Journal
THE CELESTIAL SPHERE for Chorus and Orchestra (1980) "THE CELESTIAL SPHERE is a monumental work, a sacred oratorio that scales the heights of religious emotionalism ... There was a standing ovation for the performance." Daily Dispatch "THE CELESTIAL SPHERE is an exciting piece - convincing in its rapture, marvelously thunderous at its climaxes, striking in its confident integration of chorus and orchestra. At every turn one senses, as one does in all choral masterpieces, the composer's delight at being allowed to work on a grand scale ... In short, THE CELESTIAL SPHERE excites and fascinates in all sorts of ways. In this majestic choral/orchestral tapestry, Wuorinen has made a powerful statement and added to a repertory badly in need of replenishing," Musical America
TASHI Concerto (1976) "A musical cataclysm shook Severance Hall last Wednesday night. Charles Wuorinen 's Tashi Concerto, which was given its world premiere by the Cleveland Orchestra and the Tashi ensemble, erupts in violent outbursts of sonic energy. ..Brilliantly organized ... Gripping from beginning to end...intriguing instrumental doublings color the intricate musical fabric, and in the slow movement, the horns are assigned a particularly beautiful passage. Powerfully per-formed under the composer's precise direction, the concerto made a strong first impression as a musical statement of intensity, substance and style." Cleveland Plain Dealer
SECOND PIANO CONCERTO: for Amplified Piano and Orchestra (1974) "Brassy, percussive, peppery, mercurial in its tempos, muscular and insistently powerful." Newsweek "Effective and grabbing. The mood is spunky and muscular ... In sections and in large ensemble, the orchestra continually reacts to and answers the all-over-the-place piano lines, until the players converge on a climactic passage that remembers Bartok. Wuorinen directs his music toward this high point, but, along the way, he takes care to guide the listener, by making ingenious use of dynamics, textures and tempo shifts," Chicago Daily News "Powerful and complex ideas ... The surface sheen of sound is often impressive, particularly in the carefully scaled climaxes where the planes and levels of interacting rhythms and pitch levels mesh powerfully." Chicago Tribune
CONCERTO FOR AMPLIFIED VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA (1972) "Attention arresting music ... a super-virtuoso piece...An intricate journey through an orderly jungle of musical ideas, where peppery filigrees jump from percussion to winds to strings and back again, where the solo violin describes high flying arches that gain energy from their own motion, where the very high, palpitating E of the solo that begins the concerto returns, at the very end, in a lower octave, but amplified into an agonized, or perhaps triumphant, scream." Leighton Kerner, Village Voice "An exciting work." Michael Steinberg, Boston Globe
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