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Bernard Rands's Madrigali in Alabama and Virginia

Oct. 07, 2013

Bernard Rands's <em>Madrigali</em> in Alabama and Virginia

American audiences have two opportunities this month to hear Bernard Rands’s Madrigali as it receives performances by both the Richmond Symphony and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. On October 13, Steven Smith leads the Richmond Symphony in a program that pairs Madrigali with Samuel Barber’s Medea and Brahms's Serenade No. 2. The concert takes place at Randolph-Macon College. Later this month, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra features Madrigali in a program curated by our own Hannah Lash, which is led by Danail Rachev on October 25.

Madrigali was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra who gave the premiere in 1977 under the baton of Rafael Druian. Scored for chamber orchestra, the work is divided into five short movements which are based on musical characteristics found in Monteverdi’s Eighth Book of Madrigals.

The essence of Monteverdi's melodic, harmonic, monodic, polyphonic, gestural and instrumental features are here placed in new contexts and juxtapositions. Although the movements are separate, they do (like the original set of madrigals) have anticipations and echoes of each other. In particular, allusions are frequently made to the famous madrigal Amor Lamento della Ninfa, which appears in its entirety in the final movement. Conceived as an imaginary ballet, Madrigali refers constantly to Luciano Berio's transcription of Il Combattimento at the same time as it relates many aspects of his own original music to that of his Italian predecessor.

These performances are only the start of an exciting new season for Bernard Rands, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on March 2, 2014.   

For more information on Bernard Rands, including upcoming performances, please visit www.schott-music.com

Information on the concerts can be found at www.richmondsymphony.com and www.alabamasymphony.org.

Bernard Rands
Madrigali (1977)
for chamber orchestra
1.1.0.0-1.1.0.0-perc-str
22’

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