The blues is one of America’s greatest cultural inventions—and now, it provides the backbone for one of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis’s most innovative and colossal works. In the hands of the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of celebrated conductor Cristian Măcelaru, Blues Symphony (Marsalis’s second symphony) takes the 12-bar blues and explodes it into a lyrical, kaleidoscopic history of American music.
The symphony’s movements are each infused with different influences—a ragtime stomp here, a habanera rhythm there—and, collectively, they take listeners on a sonic journey through America’s revolutionary era, the early beginnings of jazz in New Orleans, and even a big city soundscape that serves as a nod to the Great Migration. This 2019 performance, recorded live in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, builds upon the legacies of Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, George Gershwin, and other American masters, demonstrating the genius and breadth of Marsalis’s imagination.
“The blues helps you remember back before the troubles on hand and in mind,” says Marsalis, “and they carry you on the wings of angels to a timeless higher ground.” With the exquisite palette provided by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Blues Symphony is a triumphant ode to the power of the blues and the scope of America’s musical heritage.
Ensemble | The Philadelphia Orchestra |
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Release Date | May 21st, 2021 |
Recording Date | December 12-14, 2019 |
Record Label | Blue Engine Records |
Catalogue Number | BE0039 |
Formats | Digital Download |
Genre | Classical Recordings |
Digital Booklet | Download (pdf, 125 KB) |
Track | Length | Preview |
---|---|---|
Movement I: Born in Hope | 7:29 | Play |
Movement II: Swimming in Sorrow | 13:23 | Play |
Movement III: Reconstruction Rag | 10:20 | Play |
Movement IV: Southwestern Shakedown | 7:49 | Play |
Movement V: Big City Breaks | 4:35 | Play |
Movement VI: Danzón y Mambo, Choro y Samba | 11:51 | Play |
Movement VII: Dialog in Democracy | 6:36 | Play |
The Blues Symphony is a seven-movement work that gives a symphonic identity to the form and feeling of the blues. It utilizes regional and stylistic particulars of the idiom’s language and form to convey the basic point of view of the blues as music: “Life hands you hard times.”
When you cry, holler, and shout to release those hard times; when you tease, cajole, and play to diminish them; and when you dance and find a common community through groove, better times will be found. The more profound the pain, the deeper the groove.
This piece is intended to further the legacy of Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, James P. Johnson, Leonard Bernstein, John Lewis, Gunther Schuller, and others who were determined to add the innovations of jazz to the vocabulary of the symphonic orchestra. I believe there is an organic and real connection between all Western traditions regardless of instrumentation, and that the symphonic orchestra can and will swing, play the blues, feature melodic improvisation, and execute the more virtuosic aspects of jazz and American vernacular music with absolute authenticity.
— Wynton Marsalis, April 2021
All compositions by Wynton Marsalis (Skayne’s Music (ASCAP))
TRACK LISTING
Movement I: Born in Hope
Movement II: Swimming in Sorrow
Movement III: Reconstruction Rag
Movement IV: Southwestern Shakedown
Movement V: Big City Breaks
Movement VI: Danzón y Mambo, Choro y Samba
Movement VII: Dialog in Democracy
Recorded on December 12-14, 2019 in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
PERSONNEL:
The Philadelphia Orchestra, 2019-2020 Season
Conducted by Cristian Măcelaru
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Music Director
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair
Stéphane Denève
Principal Guest Conductor
Gabriela Lena Frank
Composer-in-Residence
Erina Yashima
Assistant Conductor
Lina Gonzalez-Granados
Conducting Fellow
Frederick R. Haas
Artistic Advisor
Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Experience
First Violins
David Kim, Concertmaster
Dr. Benjamin Rush Chair
Juliette Kang, First Associate Concertmaster
Joseph and Marie Field Chair
Ying Fu (*), Associate Concertmaster
Marc Rovetti, Assistant Concertmaster
Barbara Govatos
Robert E. Mortensen Chair
Jonathan Beiler
Hirono Oka
Richard Amoroso
Robert and Lynne Pollack Chair
Yayoi Numazawa
Jason DePue
Larry A. Grika Chair
Jennifer Haas
Miyo Curnow
Elina Kalendarova
Daniel Han
Julia Li
William Polk
Mei Ching Huang
Second Violins
Kimberly Fisher, Principal
Peter A. Benoliel Chair
Paul Roby, Associate Principal
Sandra and David Marshall Chair
Dara Morales, Assistant Principal
Anne M. Buxton Chair
Philip Kates
Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Family Foundation Chair
Booker Rowe
Joseph Brodo Chair, given by Peter A. Benoliel
Davyd Booth
Paul Arnold
Lorraine and David Popowich Chair
Dmitri Levin
Boris Balter
Amy Oshiro-Morales
Yu-Ting Chen
Jeoung-Yin Kim
Christine Lim
Violas
Choong-Jin Chang, Principal
Ruth and A. Morris Williams Chair
Kirsten Johnson, Associate Principal
Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal
Judy Geist
Renard Edwards
Anna Marie Ahn Petersen
Piasecki Family Chair
David Nicastro
Burchard Tang
Che-Hung Chen
Rachel Ku
Marvin Moon
Meng Wang
Cellos
Hai-Ye Ni, Principal
Priscilla Lee, Associate Principal
Yumi Kendall, Assistant Principal
Wendy and Derek Pew Foundation Chair
Richard Harlow
Gloria dePasquale
Orton P. and Noël S. Jackson Chair
Kathryn Picht Read
Robert Cafaro
Volunteer Committees Chair
Ohad Bar-David
John Koen (*)
Derek Barnes
Mollie and Frank Slattery Chair
Alex Veltman
Basses
Harold Robinson, Principal
Carole and Emilio Gravagno Chair
Joseph Conyers, Acting Associate Principal
Tobey and Mark Dichter Chair
Nathaniel West, Acting Assistant Principal
John Hood
Michael Shahan
David Fay
Duane Rosengard
Robert Kesselman
Some members of the string sections voluntarily rotate seating on a periodic basis.
Flutes
Jeffrey Khaner, Principal
Paul and Barbara Henkels Chair
Patrick Williams, Associate Principal
Rachelle and Ronald Kaiserman Chair
Olivia Staton
Erica Peel, Piccolo
Oboes
Peter Smith, Acting Principal
Samuel S. Fels Chair
Jonathan Blumenfeld
Edwin Tuttle Chair
Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English Horn
Joanne T. Greenspun Chair
Clarinets
Ricardo Morales, Principal
Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Chair
Samuel Caviezel, Associate Principal
Sarah and Frank Coulson Chair
Socrates Villegas
Paul R. Demers, Bass Clarinet
Peter M. Joseph and Susan Rittenhouse Joseph Chair
Bassoons
Daniel Matsukawa, Principal
Richard M. Klein Chair
Mark Gigliotti, Co-Principal
Angela Anderson Smith
Holly Blake, Contrabassoon
Horns
Jennifer Montone, Principal
Gray Charitable Trust Chair
Jeffrey Lang, Associate Principal
Hannah L. and J. Welles Henderson Chair
Jeffry Kirschen
Ernesto Tovar Torres
Shelley Showers
Trumpets
David Bilger, Principal
Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Chair
Jeffrey Curnow, Associate Principal
Gary and Ruthanne Schlarbaum Chair
Anthony Prisk
Robert W. Earley
Trombones
Nitzan Haroz, Principal
Neubauer Family Foundation Chair
Matthew Vaughn, Co-Principal
Eric Carlson
Blair Bollinger, Bass Trombone
Drs. Bong and Mi Wha Lee Chair
Tuba
Carol Jantsch, Principal
Lyn and George M. Ross Chair
Timpani
Don S. Liuzzi, Principal
Dwight V. Dowley Chair
Angela Zator Nelson, Associate Principal
Percussion
Christopher Deviney, Principal
Angela Zator Nelson
Piano and Celesta
Kiyoko Takeuti
Keyboards
Davyd Booth
Harp
Elizabeth Hainen, Principal
Patricia and John Imbesi Chair
Librarians
Robert M. Grossman, Principal
Steven K. Glanzmann
Stage Personnel
James J. Sweeney, Jr., Manager
James P. Barnes
Dennis Moore, Jr.
(*) On leave
The Philadelphia Orchestra:
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