2021/22 SEASON JESSIE MONTGOMERY MEAD COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE Monday, November 1, 2021, at 7:00 Orchestra Hall, Symphony Center
HOMECOMING Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Michael Lewanski Conductor Whitney Morrison Soprano
Major support for CSO MusicNOW is generously provided by the Zell Family Foundation, Cindy Sargent, the Sally Mead Hands Foundation, and the Julian Family Foundation. This concert is part of 2021: Year of Chicago Music
Elijah Daniel Smith
Scions of an Atlas (2021) World premiere, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through the Helen Zell Commissioning Program for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, two violins, viola, cello, and bass
Michael Lewanski Conductor Elijah Daniel Smith on Scions of an Atlas Scions of an Atlas exists somewhere on the historical continuum of the concerto form, but where exactly it is on that continuum is deliberately unclear. Similar to a baroque concerto grosso, musical material and themes are passed between various subgroups of the ensemble; but more akin to a twentieth- or twenty-first century concerto for orchestra, each of the piece’s three movements highlights a different subgroup within the
ensemble. The piece has also adopted the prototypical fast-slow-fast attacca structure which is often associated with a traditional concerto for soloist and orchestra. However, rather than focusing on any one player’s technical and musical virtuosity (although there is plenty to be found here), the work focuses on the ensemble’s collective virtuosity paired with the remarkable impression that a group of musicians playing aggressive yet precise material leaves on one’s memory. During the process of composing this work, I had a collection of books covering instrumental techniques, woodwind multiphonics, harmonic spectra, and tuning systems constantly strewn across the floor of my workspace. This image bears subtle resemblance to the practice of consulting atlases and maps prior to embarking upon a journey, and I came to regard these books as musical descendants of atlases, helping me plot a course through my own creation.