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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Jennifer Higdon

In Jeff Dunn's review of the opening-night concert at the Cabrillo Festival is this astonishing sentence:
[Jennifer] Higdon is now the most-performed living composer in the U.S. and Canada.
I would never have dreamed. Has anyone got the statistics? Where would I find them?

3 comments:

  1. Probably here. Fascinating stuff for all us statistics-lovers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. In that report (p. 17), which has stats for 05-06 (the most recent year), Joan Tower actually had the most performed piece ("Made in America", 58 performances) followed by:
    Higdon, Jennifer BLUE CATHEDRAL (1999) 19
    Kernis, Aaron Jay MUSICA CELESTIS FOR STRING ORCHESTRA (1991) 18
    Golijov, Osvaldo LAST ROUND (1996) 14
    Davies, Peter Maxwell ORKNEY WEDDING WITH SUNRISE (1985) 13
    Dutilleux, Henri SHADOWS OF TIME (1997) 11
    Higdon, Jennifer CONCERTO, PERCUSSION (2005) 11
    Connesson, Guillaume UNE LUEUR DANS L'AGE SOMBRE (A GLIMMER IN THE
    AGE OF DARKNESS) (2005)
    10
    Rouse, Christopher RAPTURE (2000) 10
    Tower, Joan FANFARE FOR THE UNCOMMON WOMAN (FOURTH
    FANFARE) (1986)
    10
    Ludwig, David CONCERTINO (2004) 9
    Mellits, Marc BRICK (2006) 9
    Adams, John HARMONIELEHRE (1981) 9
    Corigliano, John CONCERTO, VIOLIN (THE RED VIOLIN) (2003) 9
    Knussen, Oliver CONCERTO, VIOLIN (2001) 8
    Schnittke, Alfred (K)EIN SOMMERNACHTSTRAUM (1985) 8
    Adams, John ON THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS (2002) 8
    Kurtag, Gyorgy QUASI UNA FANTASIA (1988) 7
    Lindberg, Magnus CHORALE (2002) 7
    Messiaen, Olivier SOURIRE (1989) 7

    ReplyDelete
  3. Note that Tower's "Made in America" was a one-year anomaly, a piece designed to circulate among community orchestras, usually with Tower herself as the guest conductor. I think the season before, Higdon was definitely in the lead, and she probably will be again. Having recordings of those works in circulation certainly helps get her noticed by music directors.

    ReplyDelete

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