Thursday (2/2) on the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster, James C. Taylor writes, “Since Beethoven, Ninth Symphonies have been both a cause of joy—and dread. In the wake of Beethoven’s No. 9, composers view that massive, ethereal, choral symphony as a sort of musical Everest. And then there’s the fact that the composer never lived to write a 10th. … The theme of mortality was certainly in the air Tuesday night at Carnegie Hall, which saw the American debut of Philip Glass’ Ninth Symphony. Reached by phone two days after the premiere, Glass admitted, ‘Everyone is afraid to do a Ninth Symphony. It’s not that it killed off Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler … but it is a funny kind of jinx that people think about.’ No doubt. A recording of the Glass Symphony No. 9 is available on iTunes as played a month ago by the Bruckner Orchester Linz. It debuted Tuesday, and as of Thursday was No. 15 on the iTunes top 100 albums chart. At Carnegie, Glass’ 50-minute work was scheduled as a 75thbirthday [tribute] for the composer and programmed opposite Arvo Part’s ‘Lamentate,’ a requiem for the living.” Dennis Russell Davies, a champion of Glass’s orchestral oeuvre, conducted the American Composers Orchestra in the Carnegie premiere.
Posted February 3, 2012
