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Joseph Schwantner’s Morning’s Embrace in World Premiere Performances by the National Symphony Orchestra

Feb. 01, 2006

Joseph SchwantnerJoseph Schwantner’s Morning’s Embrace premieres on February 23 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Commissioned for the National Symphony Orchestra’s seventy-fifth season, the score and title both draw inspiration from nature. Schwantner writes:

Morning’s Embrace draws much of its spirit and energy from the intensely vibrant early morning sunrises I experience living in rural New Hampshire. I found the powerful kaleidoscope of hue and color piercing the morning mist and trees to provide potent imagery for my musical imagination.
Known and admired for his striking use of orchestral color and texture in his scores, Schwantner has been praised as “an unashamed voluptuary” creating music that is “undeniably modern, but not afraid of sheer aural beauty.”  in its depiction of nature, the composer sees Morning’s Embrace as a companion piece to the earlier work, A Sudden Rainbow, written for the St. Louis Symphony on a Meet the Composer residency commission.  A Sudden Rainbow joins Angelfire (’Fantasy’ for amplified violin and orchestra), Beyond Autumn (’Poem’ for horn and orchestra) and September Canticle (’Fantasy’ for organ, brass, percussion, amplified piano and strings) on a new, critically acclaimed Hyperion disc (CDA67493) released last year.  The recording features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton. Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony will perform September Canticle as part of the symphony's Made in America Festival on May 18, 2006.

Schwantner also enjoys many performances annually of his acclaimed work, New Morning for the World (Daybreak of Freedom), a celebration of the words and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Originally scored for full orchestra, Schwantner has recently produced a reduction for chamber orchestra as well. The full orchestral version will be performed by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra at Thalia Maria Hall in Jackson, Mississippi on February 7.

For more information on Joseph Schwantner and his work please visit www.schott-music.com and www.schwantner.net. For more about the premiere, please visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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