Join us today in celebrating an octogenarian from Orange.
John Harbison was born in Orange, NJ, on this date in 1938. A former student of Walter Piston and Roger Sessions, he has written music in all genres. His opera, “The Great Gatsby” was commission by the Met and given its premiere there in 1999.
In 1987, Harbison was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for “The Flight into Egypt,” a work scored for vocal soloists, chorus and chamber orchestra. The text, from the Book of Matthew, recounts the dark side of the Christmas story: the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt following the birth of Jesus and Herod’s over-the-top Massacre of the Innocents.
Sadly, not much has changed in 2000 years. Christmas may be a time for celebration, but it is also a time for remembering those in need.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a complete audio file of “The Flight into Egypt” posted anywhere online.
By way of consolation, today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network will feature Harbison’s “Motteti di Montale.” The song cycle will be presented in its rarely-heard complete version for chamber orchestra. The texts, on the subject of unrequited love, are drawn from the writings of the Nobel Prize winning poet Eugenio Montale. In a sense, the work was 20 years in the making, assembled from several earlier cycles, scored for different vocal and instrumental combinations.
The performance will be by the Boston-based ensemble Collage New Music, which gave the work its premiere in this form back in 2006.
Carl Hemmingsen will be your host for today’s Noontime Concert broadcast of John Harbison’s “Motteti di Montale,” beginning at 12:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.