エレン・テーフェ・ズウィリック: 管弦楽曲集

ズウィリック(Ellen Taafe Zwilich)はアメリカで女性として初めてピューリッツァー賞を受賞した作曲家。彼女は当初ヴァイオリン奏者として楽壇に登場しストコフスキー率いるアメリカ交響楽団に在籍した。やがてジュリアード音楽院で作曲をエリオット・カーター、ロジャー・セッションズらに師事した。1982年に発表した交響曲第1番でピューリッツァー賞を受賞、その後初期の前衛的なスタイルから新ロマン主義的な親しみ易い作風へと変わった。このアルバムに収められた作品は転向後のものでいずれも調性に基づく、ロマン主義的な音楽である。
東武商事株式会社

Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1973. Many younger composers, female and male, have come along since then, but her works continue to hold the stage, and she has remained active into her ninth decade. The pieces on this 2024 release by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project illustrate something of why. All are from the 21st century except for the opening Upbeat! (1998), which lives up to its name. The four works are tonal, and all have Zwilichs characteristic sense of wonder at the sounds that can be drawn from an orchestra. The Concerto Elegia for flute and strings and the Commedia dellArte for violin and orchestra are a wonderful pair, the first (written after the death of Zwilichs husband) somber and the second exuberant, both with highly sympathetic writing for the soloists. Flutist Sarah Brady and violinist Gabriela Diaz dig into these works and deliver gorgeous performances. The Symphony No. 5 of 2008, Zwilichs latest to date, is a kaleidoscopic neoclassical piece that has jazz accents as just one of a panoply of musical flavors. As with much of Zwilichs music, the works here are accessible to anybody, and the album might be recommended to those who "dont like contemporary music." The orchestral performances by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project are excellent; hear the superb control of the high pedal note in the first movement of the Symphony No. 5. ~ James Manheim