LSO 2022-23 Program Book Fall Concerts

tHE FUTURE OF MUSIC CLASSICAL
Second Movement – Soul of Remembrance
Soul of Remembrance is about Africans struggling
to understand their lives as slaves and starting
their long march to be recognized as fully human.
It is a march of sorrow and grief, but the melody
floating above the steady beat of the harp, lower
strings, and woodwinds is a bittersweet reminder
of their hope for peace, joy and freedom on earth
or in the afterlife.
Fifth Movement – Drive by Runner
The civil rights movement was at the center of the
fight for social change in the 1960s with demands
for equality in housing, employment, education,
voting rights, and access to public services. The
energetic fifth movement, Drive by Runner, begins
with a running bass line of accented eighth notes
in the contrabass and bassoons accompanied by
booming timpani, crashing cymbals, and shouting
brass representing the anger and urgency of the
times. The theme, heard in each of the preceding
movements, is played as a slow-moving melody
over the fast-moving basses and percussion. The
middle section is a quiet contrast to the opening
section eventually easing back into the dynamic
and restless movement of the opening.
Symphony No. 4, Op. 41 (“Metaclassical”)
Tyler G. White (b. 1961)
Why “metaclassical”? What could such a term
even mean?
First off, many listeners may be familiar with the
term “neoclassical,” referring in music to the post-
World War I practice of combining the thematic
and expressive clarity of Baroque and Classical
styles with Modernist harmonies and rhythms,
in reaction against the lush, hyperemotional
excesses of late Romanticism. Likewise, the term
“postmodernism” may also be familiar, referring
to a return to tonality after the adventures of the
post-World War II avant-garde, combined with
an often ironic, emotionally distanced relation
to the musical past, frequently expressed using
musical quotations from works representing
many different musical styles and cultures.
In coining the term “metaclassical,” I’m seeking
both to fuse and to move beyond these creative
outlooks. My Metaclassical Symphony uses
neoclassic rhythms and Classical formal models
extensively, and pervasively references earlier
works of the 18th through 20th centuries.
Unlike neoclassicism, however, the symphony
doesn’t shy away from full-blooded emotional
expression; unlike postmodernism, the music
makes constant allusion to earlier works, rather
than literal quotation. And crucially, the allusion to
earlier works is decidedly non-ironic, using the full
heritage of past centuries to create new musical
narratives of expressive power and immediacy.
Symphony No. 4 is cast in the standard 18thcentury
four-movement form (fast/slow/minuet
and trio/fast) and is written for an enlarged
Classical orchestra: pairs of flutes (doubling on
piccolo), oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and
trumpets, plus one trombone, timpani, percussion,
harp, piano, and strings.
The first movement, Vivace assai, is cast in a
relatively conventional 18th-century sonata
form. The principal thematic and rhythmic
reference is to Haydn’s ingenious Symphony
No. 47 (“Palindrome”). The opening exposition
is repeated, as per 18th-century practice. In
the subsequent developmental section, an
obvious reference to the opening of Wagner’s
Tristan und Isolde is presented, followed by a
complex double fugue based on material from
the exposition. In the fugue, the music comes to
be dominated by distorted references to the finale
of Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter’) and rises
to a cathartic climax. Recapitulation commences,
sinister and dramatic, in the minor mode (as in
Haydn 47), and the Wagner reference returns in
climactic fashion. The movement staggers to a
bleak conclusion, the jaunty energy of the opening
Haydn reference now broken.
The second movement, Largo nostalgico, is cast
in an arch form (ABCBA). It begins with a wistful
reminiscence of the beautiful, achingly tender
slow movement from Haydn’s Symphony No.
88. As in the Haydn movement, the opening
melody, set for solo cello and oboe playing in
octaves, alternates with contrasting episodes. A
searching trumpet melody ensues, followed by a
woodwind passage accompanied by a glittering
celesta. The music rises to a dissonant, climactic
section for full winds before suddenly breaking
off. An ominous variant of the trumpet melody
occurs in the bassoons and double basses,
accompanied by mysterious undulations in the
celesta. The Haydn-inspired theme returns in
the cello and oboe, now enshrouded in references
to the Wagner Tristan motive in the violins. The
movement settles to an ambiguous close.
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