Symphony No. 3 (Harris)

Roy Harris's Symphony No. 3 is a symphony written in 1939. It received its world premiere on February 24, 1939, in Boston, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

History

Harris wrote this symphony on a commission from Hans Kindler but he gave it to Serge Koussevitzky instead.[1] It has been described as "the quintessential American symphony",[2] and "the most widely performed and recorded of all American symphonies".[3]

The material that eventually became the opening of the Third Symphony was initially meant to be a violin concerto for Jascha Heifetz, but the commission fell through and Harris decided to turn it into a symphony. The point where the strings enter on middle C was to have been the solo violin's entrance.[4]

The score was published by G. Schirmer in 1940.

Analysis

The music is scored for 3 flutes (the third doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 soprano clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 euphonium, 1 tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, vibraphone and strings.

According to Harris, the symphony is in five connected sections: Tragic, Lyrical, Pastoral, Fugue Dramatic, Dramatic Tragic. "After the first performance, Harris made two cuts" to the Pastoral section, specifically, measures 274–301 and 308–16.[5] Originally the symphony did not end as in the published version, but stopped rather abruptly. At Koussevitzky's suggestion, Harris added a coda.[4]

Critical reception

In 1939, Koussevitzky conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the premiere. While public reaction was initially chilly, the symphony has become more popular. This work uses a number of techniques that have become common in subsequent American classical music works, including "massive but spacious textures; a new emphasis on vital, syncopated rhythms... and a rich harmonic palette".[6]

Koussevitzky made the world-premiere recording in a performance which Harris "regarded ... as the finest interpretation".[3]

Together with "the Second Symphony by Howard Hanson, [and] the Third by Robert Ward ... the Third of Roy Harris" is one of those American symphonies which "are within the capabilities of our [American] community orchestras".[7]

References
  • Butterworth, Neil (1998). The American Symphony. Aldershot: Ashgate.
  1. Stehman, Dan (1984). Roy Harris: An American Musical Pioneer. Boston: Twayne Publishers. pp. 63–9.
  2. Canarina, John (1993). "The American Symphony". In Robert Layton (ed.). A Guide to the Symphony. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 408–10.
  3. Butterworth 1998, p. 84.
  4. Clark, John W.; Schuman, William (Autumn 1986). "William Schuman on His Symphonies: An Interview". American Music. 4 (3): 328–336. doi:10.2307/3051614. JSTOR 3051614. p. 334.
  5. Butterworth 1998, p. 86.
  6. Haskins, Rob (2000). "Orchestral and Chamber Music in the Twentieth Century". In Ellen Koskoff (ed.). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 3 - The United States and Canada. Routledge (Taylor & Francis). pp. 203–208.
    Reprint 2017. ISBN 9781351544146.
  7. Van Horn, James (1979). The Community Orchestra: A Handbook for Conductors, Managers and Boards. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780313205620.

Further reading
  • Kennan, Kent Wheeler. The Technique of Orchestration. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1952.
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