Andrew Norman: Play, etc

Play is a three-movement orchestral work by American composer Andrew Norman, a symphony if you will, although it is not so designated. The title has multiple meanings, and these actually constitute the essence of the work. First, it indicates simply the fact of playing instruments, and playing them well: this is a virtuoso orchestral score, and one to which the Boston Modern Orchestra Project is fortunately equal. One wonders what the work might sound like in the hands of one of the major European symphonic groups. Second, the work has a futuristic aspect that puts one in mind of video games, and indeed the three movements are named Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Third, there is certainly a sense of play in the music, which has a madcap quality and revels in unexpected juxtapositions. Finally there is play in the sense of a drama: each movement has a motivic unfolding for which the explication in the booklet will probably be helpful. The list could go on, but the bottom line is that this is an orchestral work that is as fun as it is dense with ideas, and that is going to be showing up on a whole lot of symphonic programs in the coming years. The single-movement Try brings the curtain down with a similar, but more compact, kind of multiple signification.