Word: zwilich
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...song’s end, the finale elicited warm applause and a few whistles of admiration before the lights were turned on for intermission. The second half of the concert began with a concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra composed in 1991 by American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu joined cellist Andrew Mark in this two-movement double concerto. The work was characterized by constant dissonance and a mixture of tempos and rhythms. In the more lyrical first movement, the soloists were often in unison, rather than engaged in dialogue with each other. The repetitive motifs carried...
Although women composers are still a distinct minority, Zwilich feels that times are slowly changing. As evidence, she cites such composers as Joan Tower and Elizabeth Larson and says, "In the arts, once the door is open, the door stays open." An unabashed feminist, Zwilich supports the concept of all-women concerts. "I'd love to see the necessity for them simply vanish," she says. "But the reality is they are still needed...
...music needs no special pleading. In a work like the Double Quartet for Strings (1984), heard as part of the San Francisco Symphony's week-long salute to the composer, Zwilich displays a formidable technical command coupled with a striking ear for beguiling string sonorities. Her 1979 Chamber Symphony, a kind of elegy to her late husband, Metropolitan Opera Violinist Joseph Zwilich, is reminiscent of Shostakovich in its arching melodies and air of melancholic brooding...
...Zwilich's new symphony is a 24-minute, three-movement, fast-slow-fast essay that daringly transforms the cello section into a collective soloist, a throaty protagonist locked in combat with the rest of the orchestra. Hard driving and explosive, the piece erupts from a single rhythmic idea that propels the music forward relentlessly. Even the moody slow movement cannot dilute the restless surge, which continues undaunted right to the final bar. Under Conductor Edo de Waart, the San Francisco players gave the 'Cello Symphony a committed, accomplished performance...
...Pulitzer has not altered Zwilich's practical approach to her art. Writing with performing opportunities in mind, she says, "is a healthy atmosphere for an artist. When young people come to me for advice, I tell them to compose things for their musician friends to play. Don't sit at home and write for the Chicago Symphony." Until, that is, the Chicago Symphony asks you. --By Michael Walsh