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Andrew Norman's In Transition Debuts with Ensemble Berlin

Jan. 10, 2013

Andrew Norman's <em>In Transition</em> Debuts with Ensemble Berlin

On December 17, 2012, Andrew Norman’s new ensemble work In Transition received its world premiere by the Ensemble Berlin in Germany. Commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, the 20-minute septet is scored for oboe, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass. Norman’s new work explores the subtle transformation of sound as an overall structural element in the composition of a work. Written for the Scharoun Ensemble (members of the Berlin Philharmonic), In Transition mines the composer’s fascination with the myriad possibilities inherent in the transformation of one musical idea to another.

At New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space last month, conductor Jayce Ogren and players from the New York Philharmonic performed Norman’s Try on the Philharmonic's Contact! series. Originally written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella concerts, Norman notes that Try was inspired in part by the many fits and starts he encountered when beginning to write the new piece. The music took flight when he decided to write down “a bit of everything that came to mind.”

New York Times reviewer Steve Smith comments:

Try [is] a manic, fragmentary welter of impulses and styles, with second-guesses and shifts of gear prompted by short, sharp scrapes on a guiro. Strings skittered and squealed; woodwinds huffed almost inaudibly; a viola croaked as if stretched on a medieval rack; a pianist tried, again and again, to restore calm… Try received a brilliant account here. The Philharmonic should consider using it to open a subscription concert.

For more information about Andrew Norman, visit: www.schott-music.com. 

Andrew Norman
In Transition (2012)
ob, bn, 2 vns, va, vc and db
20’

Try (2011)
1.1.1.1-1.1.1.0-2perc-pno-2vn.va.vc.db
14’

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