Two New York Premieres By Composer Anna Clyne to Be Presented In March 2022

On Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 7:30pm, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents the Calidore String Quartet in the New York premiere of GRAMMY Award-nominated composer Anna Clyne's Breathing Statues, a CMS co-commission, at the Rose Studio. The concert, part of the new-music series New Milestones, also includes Sofia Gubaidulina's Quartet No. 4 for Strings with Tape, Joan Tower's White Water, and Jörg Widmann's Jagdquartett.

On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:30pm, American Composers Orchestra takes to Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall (7th Avenue between 56th and 57th Street) for a concert of premieres, including the New York premiere of Clyne's Restless Oceans. Conducted by Marin Alsop and featuring violinist Jennifer Koh, the program additionally includes the New York premiere of Lisa Bielawa's Sanctuary (a Carnegie Hall co-commission), the U.S. premiere of Hannah Kendall's Tuxedo: Vasco 'de' Gama, and the world premieres of Prophecy in Reverse by Paula Matthusen and Invisible Portals by Dai Wei.

Anna Clyne's Breathing Statues (2019) for string quartet had its world premiere on February 20, 2020 at the Richardson Auditorium at Alexander Hall in Princeton, NJ, performed by the Calidore String Quartet. The 15-minute piece draws inspiration and musical quotes from Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartets No. 13 in B-flat major Op. 130, No. 16 in F major Op. 135, and the Grosse Fuge Op. 133. It also draws inspiration from On Music, a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The concept for Breathing Statues came to Clyne from a poignant moment in the Grosse Fuge where the music stops and, in between moments of silence, breathes as it shifts from a root position E-flat major chord to a first inversion C major chord.

Clyne says, "This idea of the music breathing reminded me of another poignant moment in Beethoven's B-flat Major Quartet when the lower strings provide a pulsing accompaniment to a violin melody that is marked beklemmt (oppressed, heavy of heart) and the voice almost stutters as if out of breath. I also found other quotes that have a similar feeling of breathing or sighing, such as a moment in the Adagio of the B-flat Major Quartet; and quotes that would strongly contrast, such as the descending rhythmic lines in the lower strings in the Grosse Fuge, and a violent outburst in the last movement of the F-Major Quartet." The concept of breath - of the music and musicians breathing - sometimes together and sometimes apart, reminded Clyne of Rilke's On Music, from which Breathing Statues derives its title.

Clyne's Restless Oceans (2018) for orchestra received its world premiere on January 22, 2019 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was performed by the all-women Taki Concordia Orchestra and conducted by Marin Alsop, to whom it is dedicated and where Alsop was presented with the Forum's prestigious Crystal Award in recognition of her championship of diversity in music. At three minutes, Restless Oceans draws inspiration and its title from A Woman Speaks, a poem by Audre Lorde. In addition to playing their instruments, the musicians are called upon to use their voices in song and strong vocalizations, as well as their feet to stomp and to bring them to stand united at the end. "My intention was to write a defiant piece that embraces the power of women," Clyne says.

Concert Information
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Presents New Milestones: Visions and Illuminations

Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 7:30pm
Rose Studio | 165 W 65th St | New York, NY
Tickets: Starting at $35
Link: https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/nyc/events/upcoming/new-milestones-visions-and-illuminations/

SOFIA GUBAIDULINA: Quartet No. 4 for Strings with Tape (1993)
ANNA CLYNE: Breathing Statues for String Quartet (2019) [CMS Co-Commission]
JOAN TOWER: White Water for String Quartet (2011)
JÖRG WIDMANN: Jagdquartett for Strings (2003)
Calidore String Quartet

American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:30pm
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall | 7th Ave between 56th and 57th St | New York, NY
Tickets: $45-$55
Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2022/03/25/American-Composers-Orchestra-0730PM

ANNA CLYNE: Restless Oceans [New York Premiere]
HANNAH KENDALL: Tuxedo: Vasco 'de' Gama [U.S. Premiere]
DAI WEI: Invisible Portals [World Premiere]
PAULA MATTHUSEN: Prophecy in Reverse [World Premiere]
LISA BIELAWA: Sanctuary [New York Premiere, Carnegie Hall Co-Commission]
American Composers Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin