Chamber Symphony

John Adams

General Info

Year: 1992
Duration: c. 23:00
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental | Score Only - $43.89

Movements

1. Mongrel Airs - 7:45
2. Aria With Walking Bass - 8:10
3. Roadrunner - 5:45

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute (doubling Piccolo)
Oboe
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II (1st doubling E-flat Soprano Clarinet, 2nd doubling Bass Clarinet)
Bassoon I-II (2nd doubling Contrabassoon)
Horn in F
Trumpet in C
Trombone
Keyboard Sampler (Yamaha SY-77/SY-99 or Kurzweil K2000/2500)
Violin
Viola
Cello
String Bass
Percussion (1 player on Trap Set), including:

Bass Drum (small, with pedal)
Snare Drum
Cymbals (hi-hat)
Wood Block
2 Bongos
3 Tom Toms
Roto Toms
Tambourine
Timbale
Conga
Claves

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Chamber Symphony was commissioned by the Gerbode Foundation of San Francisco for the San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players but was premiered by the Schoenberg Ensemble on January 17, 1993 in The Hague. Inspiration for the piece came to the composer while looking over Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony Op. 9 while his son was watching cartoons in the next room. The work contains more dissonance than other works by Adams. He has recently composed a 'sequel' titled Son of Chamber Symphony.

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: London Sinfonietta (John Adams, conductor)

Audio CD: Ensemble Modern

Audio CD: Absolute Ensemble (Kristjan Järvi, Conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Nicholas McGegan, Conductor) - 25 January 2008
Oregon Symphony (Gregory Vajda, Conductor) - 2, 3 & 4 February 2008
Tokyo Sinfonietta (Yasuaki Itakura, Conductor) 23 February 2008
University of Texas-Austin Symphony Orchestra (Dan Welcher, Conductor) - 29 April 2008
London Sinfonietta (Diego Masson, Conductor) - 21 June 2008
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra - 21 September 2008
Asko and Schoenberg Ensembles (Reinbert de Leeuw, Conductor) 9 October 2008
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Bramwell Tovey, Conductor) 17 May 2009
Juilliard School (Jeffrey Milarsky, Conductor) 10 December 2009
Phoenix Symphony (Michael Christie, Conductor) 29 & 30 April and 1 May 2009

Works for Winds by This Composer

The Chairman Dances (tr. Cannon) (1985)
Chamber Symphony (1992)
Grand Pianola Music (1982)
Lollapalooza (tr. Spinazzola) (1995/2006)
Scratchband (1996/1997)
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (tr. Odom) (1986/1995)
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (tr. Bissell) (1986)
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (arr. Saucedo) (1986/2006)

Resources