Naive and Sentimental Music
Encyclopedia
Naïve and Sentimental Music is a symphonic
work by the composer
John Adams. The title of the work alludes to an essay by Friedrich Schiller
, "On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry", that contrasts a creative personality that creates art for its own sake (the "naïve") versus one conscious of other purposes, such as art’s place in history (the "sentimental"). The composer cites both the slowly developing harmonies of Bruckner’s
Fourth Symphony and the atmosphere of the Sonoma
coastline (where the piece was composed) as inspirations for the work. It has a duration of approximately 48 minutes, and has three movements:
I. Naïve and Sentimental Music. The first movement opens with a meandering melody over simple chords that subsequently undergoes a variety of symphonic transformations.
II. Mother of the Man. This movement consists of slowly evolving harmonies punctuated by chords from an amplified steel guitar.
III. Chain to the Rhythm. In a minimalistic
vein, the last movement uses rhythmic fragments that gradually build up to a thunderous climax.
The piece was co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
, the Ensemble Modern
, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
. It received its first public performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic on February 19, 1999, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen
. A recording by Esa-Pekka Salonen
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic was subsequently released by Nonesuch.
in 2003 for "Best classical contemporary composition".
s (3, 4 double piccolo
s), 3 oboe
s (3 doubles English horn), 3 Bb clarinets (3 doubles bass clarinet
2), bass clarinet, 3 bassoon
s (3 doubles contrabassoon
), 4 horns
in F, 4 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, 2 tuba
s, amplified steel string guitar, piano
, celesta
, keyboard sampler
, 2 harp
s, 5 percussion (including 3 who are principally mallet players), and strings
.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
work by the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
John Adams. The title of the work alludes to an essay by Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, "On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry", that contrasts a creative personality that creates art for its own sake (the "naïve") versus one conscious of other purposes, such as art’s place in history (the "sentimental"). The composer cites both the slowly developing harmonies of Bruckner’s
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
Fourth Symphony and the atmosphere of the Sonoma
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
coastline (where the piece was composed) as inspirations for the work. It has a duration of approximately 48 minutes, and has three movements:
I. Naïve and Sentimental Music. The first movement opens with a meandering melody over simple chords that subsequently undergoes a variety of symphonic transformations.
II. Mother of the Man. This movement consists of slowly evolving harmonies punctuated by chords from an amplified steel guitar.
III. Chain to the Rhythm. In a minimalistic
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
vein, the last movement uses rhythmic fragments that gradually build up to a thunderous climax.
The piece was co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, the Ensemble Modern
Ensemble Modern
Ensemble Modern is a chamber ensemble dedicated to the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries....
, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the...
, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
. It received its first public performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic on February 19, 1999, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:...
. A recording by Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:...
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic was subsequently released by Nonesuch.
Critical Reception
In his review of the world premiere, Mark Swed, music critic for the L.A. Times, praised the work for its grand reach, stating that while stylistically it resembled Adam’s earlier works, "Everything is bigger and better". For the New York Premiere, Bernard Holland, music critic for the N.Y. Times, found the piece "Unlovely, yet compelling" in its multiple layers of sound and rhythm. Five years later, in its local premiere with the San Francisco Symphony, Joshua Kosman, music critic for the S.F. Chronicle, praised the work in its scope and composition, writing that it "takes its rhetoric and sense of scale from the symphonies of Bruckner, Mahler and Sibelius, and its musical content from the nexus of pop melody and old-style minimalism a la Steve Reich". It was nominated for a Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 2003 for "Best classical contemporary composition".
Instrumentation
The work is scored for 4 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (3, 4 double piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
s), 3 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (3 doubles English horn), 3 Bb clarinets (3 doubles bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
2), bass clarinet, 3 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (3 doubles contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
), 4 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in F, 4 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, 2 tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
s, amplified steel string guitar, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, keyboard sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, 2 harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, 5 percussion (including 3 who are principally mallet players), and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.