Work of the Week - Joseph Schwantner: Concerto No. 2

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention honors Joseph Schwantner by hosting the premiere of Concerto No. 2, for percussion section, timpani and orchestra, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Hans Graf on November 10. The premiere performances feature members of the ISO’s percussion section, and the premiere run continues on November 11 and 12 on the orchestra’s Sonic Heroes subscription series at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis. Schwantner remarks:

The incredibly rich, timbral, sonic and articulate universe of percussion continues to nurture and inform the fabric of all of my music. The fast, first movement's (Feroce) large-scale design opens with the four soloists collaboratively playing a series of assertive bass drum and timpani gestures followed by sharp low register orchestral punctuations and rapid, spiky high register phrases in the piccolo and flutes. The slow second movement explores the deep resonant melodic and harmonic sonorities of the marimba. The third movement (con fervore) is fast and engages all of the drums, first as a collective ensemble followed by individual improvised solos. The final section introduces bucket drums in a spirited "give and take" of improvised cadenzas concluding, coda-like, with materials of the first movement.

Veteran ISO percussionist Paul Berns summed up the buzz surrounding the highly-anticipated premiere when he exclaimed, "This will be an epic evening!"

• Joseph Schwantner - Profile
• Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra