Revelry

Liebermann's Revelry is why we go to hear an orchestra! Fast and brilliant, demanding and dynamic, this is hold-your-breath excitement for large forces. Written in 1994 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Westchester Symphony and premiered in 1995, Revelry is now the featured title work on a 2012 recording by BBC Symphony Orchestra under Grant Llewellyn (Albany Records). Dur.: 7'

"Revelry" was commissioned by Susan and Elihu Rose to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Westchester Symphony Orchestra. It received its premiere on April 29th, 1995 with the Westchester Symphony conducted by Anthony Aibel. It is scored for an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, strings, and a large assortment of percussion instruments including timpani, cymbals, xylophone, bass-drum, small triangle, tambourine, glockenspiel, suspended cymbal, slapstick, woodblock, guero, breakdrum, police whistle, ratchet, large gong and flexatone. The piece is actually a series of variations on a twelve-note row, each variation transposed to the pitch-level of the successive pitches of the row itself. A dichotomy exists however in the set/form axis, as the horizontal material is triadically disposed on its vertical plane and, in addition, a secondary, bipartite form is imposed upon the primary variation form. This piece continues a trend that has involved me recently of rendering implicit the pre-compositional materials in the explicit structure of the work.

 

Liebermann's Revelry is why we go to hear an orchestra! Fast and brilliant, demanding and dynamic, this is hold-your-breath excitement for large forces. Written in 1994 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Westchester Symphony and premiered in 1995, Revelry is now the featured title work on a 2012 recording by BBC Symphony Orchestra under Grant Llewellyn (Albany Records). Dur.: 7'