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Andrew Norman's Play: Level 1 On Tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Feb. 03, 2016

Andrew Norman's <em>Play: Level 1</em> On Tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic

On Thursday February 25, the Los Angeles Philharmonic performs Andrew Norman’s Play: Level 1 led by Gustavo Dudamel at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Level 1 is the first movement of Norman’s large-scale orchestral work Play, which was commissioned by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and premiered in 2013, conducted by Gil Rose. Additional performances take place February 26, 27 and 28.

Play has been hailed as “a sprawling, engulfing, furiously unpredictable piece” (Alex Ross) and a work that “most clearly points up Norman’s staggering imagination and talent” (The Boston Globe). Norman shares some insight into his work.

I am fascinated by how instruments are played, and how the physical act of playing an instrument becomes potent theatrical material when we foreground it on stage at an orchestra concert. I'm also fascinated by how the orchestra, as a meta-instrument, is played, how its many moving parts and people can play with or against or apart from one another. While the word ‘play’ certainly connotes fun and whimsy and a child-like exuberance, it can also hint at a darker side of interpersonal relationships, at manipulation, control, deceit, and the many forms of master-to-puppet dynamics one could possibly extrapolate from the composer-conductor-orchestra-audience chain of communication. Much of this piece is concerned with who is playing whom…

Following the Los Angeles performances, Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic tour Norman’s Play: Level 1 to Lincoln Center on March 14, the Paris Philharmonie on March 19, the Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall in Luxembourg on March 21, and to the Barbican in London on March 22.

Earlier this month, the Staatsorchester Darmstadt performs Norman’s Drip Blip Sparkle Spin Glint Glide Glow Float Flop Chop Pop Shatter Splash at Darmstadt’s Staatstheater. The performances are led by Will Humburg and take place February 7, 8 and 14.

For more concert details, visit the laphil.com and staatstheater-darmstadt.de.

Learn more about Andrew Norman by going to schott-music.com.

Andrew Norman
Play: Level 1 (2013)
for orchestra
2(2.pic).2.2.2(2.cbsn)-4.3.2ttbn.1btbn.1-3perc(I. vib, 4bng, 5tempbl, 3splash cym, 5tin cans, kick d, brake d, washboard, slapstick; II. crot, 5log d, 4opera gongs, 4tom-t [sm], kick d, spring coil, tri, guiro, tam-t [lg], slapstick; III. xyl, 4wdbl, 5cow bell, h.h, kick d, ratchet, slapstick, b.d)-pno-str(12.10.8.6.4)
13’

Drip Blip Sparkle Spin Glint Glide Glow Float Flop Chop Pop Shatter Splash (2005)
for orchestra
3.2.3.2-4.3.3.1-timp.3perc-pno-str
5’

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