Continuing its 50th anniversary season,
the Brooklyn Philharmonic is also commemorating the 150th anniversary
of the publication of Walt Whitman’s seminal "Leaves of
Grass."
Combining the two celebrations was left to composer Jennifer
Higdon (pictured), whose composition "Dooryard Bloom"
was commissioned by the Philharmonic.
Based on Whitman’s poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryards
Bloom’d," Higdon’s 24-minute work for baritone and orchestra
has its world premiere on Saturday, April 16, on a program that
also features three choirs performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
"[Brooklyn Philharmonic board member and former music director]
Robert Spano asked me several years ago to write something for
a Whitman celebration and we settled on the ’Lilacs’ text,"
Higdon said by phone from her home in Philadelphia. Whitman’s
poem is a tribute to Abraham Lincoln written shortly after his
assassination in 1865.
"My setting sounds pretty much like an elegy," she
said. "I just tried to reflect the text, basically; it has
a lot of ambiguity, and I tried to put that in the music. As
for the soloist, in my head it sounded very logical to write
for a baritone."
Nmon Ford sings the premiere.
The 42-year-old Higdon was born in Brooklyn (at Lefferts Hospital,
she says) but her family soon moved to Atlanta, where she spent
most of her childhood. Her professional relationship with Spano,
currently head of the Atlanta Symphony, has been a fruitful one.
"Are you kidding? We won a Grammy!" she enthuses, referring
to the Telarc CD of her works "City Scape" and "Concerto
for Orchestra," which won the Best Engineered Classical
Album award in February.
But Spano was unable to conduct this world premiere in Fort Greene.
"It’s just scheduling," Higdon lamented. "He wanted
to but it didn’t work out. But I’ve heard incredible things about
[conductor] Michael Christie and am looking forward to working
with him in Brooklyn."
The Brooklyn Philharmonic will perform its "Brooklyn’s Ode
to Joy" concert, featuring Higdon and Beethoven, at the
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place
in Fort Greene) on April 16 at 8 pm. Tickets are $20, $40, $55
and $60. For tickets, visit the Web site at www.brooklynphilharmonic.org
or call (718) 636-4100. For more information, call (718) 622-5555.
Kevin Filipski
