Percussion Concerto (Higdon)

The Percussion Concerto is a one-movement concerto for solo percussion and orchestra by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was jointly commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with contributions from the Philadelphia Music Project and the Lacy Foundation of LDI, Ltd. The piece was completed in 2005 and is dedicated to the percussionist Colin Currie, for whom the concerto was written.[1] The piece won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.[2][3][4] That same year, Higdon won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto (2008).[5][6]

In 2020, a recording of the concerto performed by Colin Currie was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", the most recent to be selected by the Registry overall.[7]

Reception

The music critic Gregory Sullivan Isaacs of Theater Jones lauded the Percussion Concerto as "fascinating" and said it "makes wondrous use of percussion in all its wide spectrum of sounds."[8] Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun also praised the piece, saying, "Higdon unleashes a kinetic storm of urban beats, balanced by passages of Asian-influenced musings that exploit the most seductive qualities of the diverse percussion instruments assigned to the soloist." Smith continued:

Adding an unusual layer to the work is Higdon's decision to treat the orchestra's percussion section as a second protagonist. That means a whole lot of beating going on at times. The result is that the rest of the orchestra, all those strings and things, sometimes seems like an afterthought. But that doesn't much matter in the end, for the concerto is filled with absorbing musical ideas that are taken in interesting, often foot-stomping directions.[9]

Conductor and frequent Higdon collaborator Marin Alsop wrote of the work, "In this concerto, you can hear the essential qualities about Jennifer as a composer and person — the music is direct, immediate and visceral with clear direction and shape, just some of the qualities that also define her as an 'American' composer." Alsop further remarked, "'Accessible' is often a dirty word in the world of art, but Jennifer embraces the concept and explains that a major priority for her is to give listeners a sense of grounding and a feel for where they are in her compositions. She is far less concerned with formality and technique than she is with the final test of a piece: how it sounds."[10]

See also

References
  1. Higdon, Jennifer (2005). PROGRAM NOTES: "Percussion Concerto". JenniferHigdon.com. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  2. Nicholson, David (October 26, 2010). "Virginia Symphony presents Higdon's percussion concerto". Daily Press. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  3. Dunkle, David N. (February 2, 2010). "Philadelphia composer Jennifer Higdon scores a Grammy". The Patriot-News. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  4. "Alumna wins Grammy for Percussion Concerto". Pennsylvania Gazette. February 1, 2010. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  5. Schweitzer, Vivien (April 21, 2010). "Despite Anxiety and Naysayers, Composer Wins Her Pulitzer". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  6. Berger, Kevin (March 25, 2012). "Composer Jennifer Higdon pursues friendly music". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  7. "National Recording Registry Class Produces Ultimate 'Stay at Home' Playlist". Library of Congress. March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  8. Isaacs, Gregory Sullivan (January 12, 2015). "Review: Grammy-Winning Percussion, Bang the Drums!". Theater Jones. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  9. Smith, Tim (March 23, 2012). "At the BSO: Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto is a smash". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  10. Alsop, Marin (May 23, 2009). "Jennifer Higdon And Me: A Musical Friendship". NPR. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
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