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Manfred Honeck and the New York Philharmonic Give New York Premiere Performances of Katherine Balch's musica pyralis

Apr. 12, 2024

The New York Philharmonic performs the New York premiere of Katherine Balch's musica pyralis under the baton of Manfred Honeck on April 12-14 at David Geffen Hall. Honeck led the world premiere performances of musica pyralis with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra February 16 and 18 at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. 

Balch notes: "Most of my music tries to filter the sights and sounds of my surrounding environment through the instruments I'm writing for, rather like a musical sieve. In musica pyralis, ["Music of the Firefly"], the orchestra sings the summer soundscape of my home in rural Connecticut, where, thanks to little light pollution, fireflies bashfully illuminate the nightly cacophony of frogs and crickets and many other little creatures. Nature is the best orchestrator – despite the saturated soundscape, each noise-maker can hear and be heard as they occupy distinct registral and timbral niches. I try to capture a glimpse of this miraculously transparent density in this (mostly) brisk concert opener, and set to song the gently omnipresent twinkle of the phontinus pyralis – the Common Eastern Firefly."

musica pyralis was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra through Amplifying Voices, a New Music USA initiative with funding in part from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, and the New York Philharmonic, Santa Rosa Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and Erie Philharmonic.

Listen to Balch's drip music (2019, arr. 2021):

drip music/Katherine Balch/Talea Ensemble/James Baker, conductor

To learn more about Katherine Balch, visit schott-music.com.

Katherine Balch
musica pyralis (2023)
for orchestra
2(2.pic).2.2.1.cbsn-4.2.2.1-timp.3perc(I. vib, lg sus cym, med tri, lg tri, capiz shell (or glass) wind chimes; II. vib crot, s.d, bng, course ceramic tile, guiro; III. tub bells (2 oct), b.d, hi-hat, med sus cym, sm tri, guiro-hp(detuned).pno-str Woodwinds double on harmonicas of various tunings; see performance notes in score for details.
11'

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