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Salonen Premiere kicks off the LA Phil's 100th Anniversary

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The ascendancy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic is the salient event in American orchestral life of the past twenty-five years.
— Alex Ross, The New Yorker 
 
 

This weekend, Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the commissioned world premiere of Castor, his new piece for large orchestra. Salonen conducts Castor again on October 26, alongside its 2018 companion piece Pollux; when performed together, the duo is titled Gemini.

Several compositions from the Wise Music catalog grace the stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall this season, celebrating the LA Phil's legacy of progressive musicmaking and programming. Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel spotlights symphonies by Charles Ives February 27-29, pairing his innocent Third and omnipotent Fourth with Dvořák's "New World" Symphony. In addition to commissioned premieres by Julia Wolfe and Kaija Saariaho, the LA Phil also performs the American premiere of Mignon — Papillons by Bent Sørensen February 4 with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and conductor Daníel Bjarnason.

Please explore and enjoy the following titles, all to be performed by the LA Phil this season.

Samuel Barber
Concerto for Violin, Op. 14 (1939, rev. 1949) 22 Minutes
Violin; 2(pic).2.2.2/2200/timp/pf/str
Listen on Spotify | View score

Carlos Chávez
Symphony No. 2, Sinfonía India (1935) 11 Minutes
2+2pic.3.2+ebcl+bcl.3/4.2.2.0/timp.4perc/hp/str
Listen on Spotify

Duke Ellington
Night Creature (1956) 17 Minutes
2.2.2(bcl).2asx.2tsx[+barsx].2/4.4.3.1/timp.2perc/hp/str
Listen on Spotify | View score

Helen Grime
A Cold Spring (2009) 10 Minutes
0.0+ca.2.1/1.0.0.0/hp/str(1.0.1.1.1)
Listen on Spotify | View score

Charles Ives
Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting (1904) 22 Minutes (PULITZER PRIZE 1947)
1.1.1.1/2.0.1.0/bells/str
Listen on Spotify | View score
 
Symphony No. 4 (2011 Performance Edition, ed. Thomas M. Brodhead) 30 Minutes
SATB chorus + 3+pic.2.3.tsx(barsx)[=tsx+barsx].2/4.6(cnt).4.tba/timp.5perc.[opt xyl]/solo pf.quarter-tone pf.orch pf(4-hand).cel.org.[opt ether org]/str(min 12.12.12.10.8 players); distant choir ensemble (hp.5vn); B.U. ensemble (5perc in mvt 4)
Listen on Spotify | View score

Witold Lutosławski
Symphony No. 4 (1992) 22 Minutes
3(pic).3(ca).3(Ebcl:bcl).3(cbn)/4.3.3.1/timp.perc/2hp.pf.cel/str
Listen on Spotify | View score

André Previn
Can Spring be Far Behind? (2016) 15 Minutes
2+pic.2.2(Ebcl)+bcl.2/3.2.1+btbn.0/timp.perc/hp/str (10.8.6.4.3 players min)
View score

Esa-Pekka Salonen
Castor (2019) 12 Minutes
3(pic)+pic.3+ca.3(bcl)+cbcl.3+cbn/4331/2timp.5perc[4perc]/hp.pf[cel]/str
 
Pollux (2018) 11 Minutes
4(2pic.2afl).3+ca.3(Ebcl.bcl)+cbcl.3+cbn/4.3(pictpt).3.1/timp.4perc/hp.pf(cel)/str
View score

(Castor and Pollux become Gemini when performed together.)

Jean Sibelius
Lemminkaeinen Suite, Lemminkaeinen in Tuonelah, Op. 22/3 (1895, rev. 1939) 18 Minutes
2.1+ca.1+bcl.2/4330/perc/str
Listen on Spotify

Bent Sørensen
Mignon — Papillons (2014) 24 Minutes
Piano; str
Listen on Spotify | View score
 
The Weeping White Room (2002) 8 Minutes
fl(pic.bassfl).cl(bcl)/perc/pf/str(1.1.1.1.1)
Listen on Spotify | View score

Anna Thorvaldsdottir
METACOSMOS (2017) 14 Minutes
4(pic.afl).2+ca.3+bcl.4+cbn/4.2.2.2/3perc/str
Watch on YouTube | View score

Here are five classic works that have been recorded by the LA Phil over the decades, and here's to 100 more years of Angeleno excellence.

Michael Gordon
Dystopia (2007) 31 Minutes
2(2pic)+2pic.2+ca.2+bcl.asx.0+cbn/4.3.3.1/5perc/pf.org.hp.bgtr/str
Listen on Spotify

John Harbison
Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra (1988) 20 Minutes
2.2.2.2(cbn)/4.4.3.1/2timp/str
Listen on Spotify | View score

Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111 (1947) 42 Minutes
3.3.4.3/4.3.3.1/timp.perc/hp.cel.pf/str
Listen on Spotify

Kaija Saariaho
Du Cristal (1989) 19 Minutes4(4pic,3afl).3.3(Ebcl)+bcl(cbcl).2(cbn)/4.3.2.1/timp.4perc/hp.pf+syn/str(16.14.12.10.8)/electronics Listen on Spotify | View score

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43 (1935) 63 Minutes
4+2pic.4(ca)4+Ebcl+bcl.3+cbn/4.8.3.2/2timp.perc.glock.xyl/cel.2hp/str
Listen on Spotify

 
For more information, please contact Andrew Stein-Zeller.