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''Music for a Time of War'' is a 2011 concert program and subsequent album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar. The program consists of four compositions inspired by war: Charles Ives ''The Unanswered Question'' (1906), John Adams ''The Wound-Dresser'' (1989), Benjamin Britten's ''Sinfonia da Requiem'' (1940) and Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 4 (1935). The program was performed on May 7, 2011, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, and again the following day. Both concerts were recorded for album release. On May 12, the Oregon Symphony repeated the program at the inaugural Spring for Music Festival, at Carnegie Hall. The performance was broadcast live by KQAC and WQXR-FM, the classical radio stations serving Portland and the New York City metropolitan area, respectively. The concerts marked the Oregon Symphony's first performances of ''The Wound-Dresser'' as well as guest baritone Sanford Sylvan's debut with the company. In October 2011 the recording of the Portland performances was released on CD by Dutch record label PentaTone Classics. The album marked the orchestra's first release in eight years and Kalmar's first with the Oregon Symphony. The live performances and album received favorable reviews; the recording debuted at number 31 on ''Billboard'' Classical Albums chart, and made several lists of the best classical recordings of 2011. The album earned three recognitions from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the 2013 Grammy Awards. Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony were nominated in the categories Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical (along with engineers Jesse Lewis and John Newton, and mastering engineer Jesse Brayman). Producer Blanton Alspaugh received the award for Producer of the Year, Classical for his contributions to ''Music for a Time of War'' and other recordings. == Program == ''Music for a Time of War'' contains four 20th-century classical compositions based on the theme of war. Kalmar stated that the program was not inspired by current events and that not every composition was written specifically because of war. He also warned that audiences should not attend the performances anticipating an optimistic conclusion: The program began with Charles Ives ''The Unanswered Question'', originally the first of ''Two Contemplations'', composed in 1906 (along with its counterpart ''Central Park in the Dark''). Theodore Bloomfield, who served as music director of the Oregon Symphony from 1955 to 1959, conducted its world premiere at the Juilliard School in New York in 1946. The Oregon Symphony had first performed the work in January 1974, under Lawrence Leighton Smith, and had played it under Kalmar in January 2007. ''The Unanswered Question'', which is approximately six minutes in length, contains parts for two flutes, oboe, clarinet, trumpet and strings.〔 The composition starts softly and builds with a repeated "ambiguous" question delivered by an offstage trumpet solo, answered by other instruments.〔〔 The second composition was ''The Wound-Dresser'', American minimalist composer John Adams' portrayal of Walt Whitman's experience as a medic during the American Civil War. The work refers to Whitman's 1865 eponymous poem, part of a greater collection of poems related to the conflict.〔 Adams wrote the composition following his father's death from Alzheimer's disease under his mother's care. According to the program notes, Adams was influenced by friends who died of HIV/AIDS during the 1980s and how their struggles impacted loved ones. In his own notes, Adams wrote: "I was plunged into an awareness not only of dying but also of the person who cares for the dying... The bonding that takes place between the two is one of the most extraordinary human events that can happen – something deeply personal of which most of us are completely unaware."〔 The work, which is approximately 20 minutes in length, employs solo baritone, piccolo, flute, two oboes, two clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, two horns, piccolo trumpet, timpani, synthesizer and strings.〔 In Kalmar's program the guest baritone soloist is Sanford Sylvan, for whom the piece was written in 1989.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sanford Sylvan )〕 Adams premiered the piece with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Sylvan in February 1989;〔 Sylvan's performance subsequently earned him a Grammy Award nomination.〔 The live recording sessions marked the first performances of ''The Wound-Dresser'' by the Oregon Symphony as well as Sylvan's debut with the orchestra.〔〔 The program continued with Benjamin Britten's ''Sinfonia da Requiem'' (1940), commissioned by the Japanese government to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the Japanese Empire. Britten, a pacifist, took the opportunity to compose a work that expressed his anti-war sentiments as well as his grief over his parents' deaths.〔 The Japanese were displeased by the work's Christian connotations and melancholic tone, deeming it unsuitable for the national ceremony. Britten was unapologetic about his composition.〔 ''Sinfonia da Requiem'' contains three movements—"Lacrymosa" ("Weeping"), "Dies Irae" ("Day of Wrath") and "Requiem Aeternum" ("Eternal Rest")—and alludes to the Catholic Church's Requiem.〔 The work premiered in March 1941 at Carnegie Hall, performed by the New York Philharmonic, John Barbirolli conducting. The Oregon Symphony premiered the composition on February 26, 2005 under Kalmar's baton; these performances marked the orchestra's last before ''Music for a Time of War''. Approximately 18 minutes in length, the symphony includes three flutes (one doubling alto flute and one doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tambourine, whip, xylophone, piano, harp and strings.〔 Its end completed the program's first half. Kalmar requested that the audience hold their applause from the start of the program until the end of Britten's symphony.〔〔 Note: This review appeared in print on May 14, 2011, on page C1 of the New York edition.〕 The performance ended with Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 4, composed during 1931–1934. Williams did not write the symphony on a specific subject; once he quipped that the work was "about F minor" and his wife insisted he had "() with purely musical ideas". Critics perceived the piece as a reflection of the political situation in Europe. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult, premiered the work at Queen's Hall in London in April 1935. Boult considered this "dissonant" work, inspired by Beethoven, to be a magnificent gesture of disgust' against war and fascism". The Oregon Symphony first performed the work in February 1959 with Bloomfield conducting; prior to 2011, the ensemble had not performed the symphony since October 2001, with James Judd conducting. Approximately 34 minutes in length, it employs three flutes (one doubling piccolo), three oboes (one doubling English horn), two clarinets, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle and strings.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Music for a Time of War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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