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JOHN CORIGLIANO:
Tribute to a Great Living Composer
A huge benefit of being a music theory major is the exposure to and study of so-called "classical" music. My composition classes have required me to listen to a lot of great composers, from Beethoven to Debussy, Stravinsky, Webern, and now Corigliano, pictured on the right.
My first encounter with John Corigliano's music was a couple years ago. I heard his "Symphony No. 1." Though my ears weren't quite ready for it, I could tell there was something fresh about the composer. I was impressed by the music, though I didn't know why. After listening to his excellent piece "The Mannheim Rocket" (which uses Alberti bass, and is awesome), my interest was thoroughly piqued.
A few weeks ago, I checked out the CD and score to his "Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra." Bam. I was rivetted. Never have I heard a modern composer write so creatively, idiomatically, and emotionally for clarinet. Let me break it down for you:
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- Corigliano knows every inch of the clarinet, but uses his expertise in modern, original ways. Trills and tremolos, wide leaps, unbridled unflashy virtuosity, beautiful timbral writing... it's all here.
- The second movement, an elegy featuring clarinet and solo violin, is among the most beautiful music I've ever heard. I actually cried.
- The third movement is intense. Halfway through, I realized my heart was beating fast and my knuckles were white from squeezing my chair.
- His way of notating music is innovative and always cleverly (and appropriately) applied. Graphic systems, time units, multiple time signatures used simultaneously, etc. Here's a great example:
- Corigliano calls the third movement Antiphonal Toccata. He positions individual players throughout the hall (i.e. in the audience), gives them a handful of notes, and instructs the musicians to play them quietly and in any order. The sound delay between this and the orchestra onstage is part of the composition. John Corigliano rules.
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Corigliano with his Best Original Score Academy Award for "The Red Violin." He also won the Pulitzer Prize for his "Symphony No. 2," but I couldn't find the picture.
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So Corigliano is a musical genius. But what impresses me most about him is that he's done his homework. Sure, he's talented. He's also a technical monster and it's obvious he's spent hours and hours honing his chops. Corigliano has done what great artists do: he's taken his creative abilities to the shed, sharpening them to produce an original and highly personal statement.
He's still alive. The best is yet to come, I'm sure.
Murray James Morrison
Spring 2005
Click here to read the definitely unserious and irreverent-
to-the-point-of-mockery tribute to John Corigliano.
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1st Movement: Cadenzas