Ned Rorem (b. 1923)

Symphony No. 3 (1958)

00:00 - Lento appassionato
06:49 - Allegro molto vivace
09:10 - Largo
12:00 - Andante
16:38 - Allegro molto

New York Philharmonic, dir. Leonard Bernstein (world premiere broadcast performance of 18 April 1959)

"Rorem's Third Symphony is much related to the last phase of his residence in France in 1957. It embodies a state of mind he has described as 'actively sad,' occasioned by an inward emotional crisis, and the prospect to come of geographical relocation from France to the United States. It was written, notes Rorem, in 'a three week period during the last of seven summers at the Chateau of the Vicomtesse de Noailles in Hyères (in the South of France).' The score notes April 1958 as the date of completion in New York.

The work falls into a sequence of five movements, with an extended 'sort of passacaglia' (marked 'Lento appassionato') to begin. The composer also refers to it as 'a slow overture in the grand style.' An intervallic pattern heard immediately at the start from the trombones (G-E-F-D) is the constant factor of the movement, disguised, altered, extended, and otherwise manipulated. In the first eight-measure statement, it is piled upon itself in various rhythms and phraseologies, and the horns proclaim a lengthened form of it in the 'più mosso' that follows. A more lightly scored 'allegretto,' with clarinets, flutes, and violins prominently utilized, leads to a 'più mosso,' with a rapid figuration on the motive in the oboe, inversions in other voices, solo violin, etc. The brass takes it up in chorale-like chords, and it eventually dies down to a viola rumination, as bridge to the second movement which follows without interruption.

Movement II (Allegro molto vivace) was written eight years before the rest of the symphony, originally for two pianos during a visit to Fez, Morocco, in 1949. It is, says the composer, 'a brisk and jazzy dance' orchestrated in 1958 and utilizing a persistent rhythmic undercurrent, first in tom-tom, then in snare drum, and other percussion instruments. Contrasted with it are melodic fragments that come and go in a wide variety of orchestral colorations.

The mood and style of movements three and four are decidedly different from what has preceded (or, for that matter, what follows). Movement III is a brief 'largo' utilizing massed string chords, a duet of oboes followed by the same thought in muted trumpets drawn to a climax in woodwinds and brass, then relaxed -- the whole almost within the span of a single inspiration and exhalation. The 'andante' that follows is termed by Rorem 'a farewell to France,' beginning with an unaccompanied English horn solo. Whether by intention or otherwise, the texture is suggestive of some procedures in the opening passacaglia. It achieves one climax and subsides, then is projected to a more powerful one before coming to a quiet ending.

Rorem describes his finale (Allegro molto) as 'a long fast Rondo which, in itself, is a Concerto for Orchestra.' A ruffle of percussion joined by rushing figures building up from the low strings to the woodwinds send it on its way, with a sharply outlined theme heard from flutes, trumpets, xylophone, and timpani. This is 'A' of the rondo sequence, and it is heard repeatedly in the course of the movement, sometimes recognizably itself (in the basic rhythmic design), sometimes lyricized and spun into a longer-breathed melody. B is a swift-moving idea, which employs the drumming effect of the movement's opening (rapid sixteenths, in 3/8) and thus is a unifying factor. C is a broader more impassioned melody, first heard about half way through the movement at a point marked 'Appassionato molto meno mosso.' It makes one later appearance in a sequence (from the start) which is as follows: A, B, A (lyric), B, C, A (original), B, A (broader), C, A, with a combination of A-B for the final pages and a decisive ending on A. Building upon strings, harp, celesta, and piano, Rorem's score specifies piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, and tuba; pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; three trumpets and trombones, four horns, four timpani, and a percussion section utilizing virtually everything available." - Irving Kolodin

Summer Night, George Bellows

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