Corigliano: Lullaby for Natalie

To understand why I am writing about this Lullaby, I have to give you a little background. My first experience hearing music by John Corigliano in concert nearly knocked me to the floor. It was his Symphony No. 3, known as Circus Maximus, written in 2004 for wind ensemble.

Fans of ancient history will immediately associate the Circus Maximus title with the massive Roman arena where chariot races, hunts, and other wild entertainments were viewed by up to 300,000 spectators. Depicting something of this scale in music would be quite a task, yes?

Well Corigliano was up to the task! I’m unable to describe the effect of the energies stirred up by this piece. Just imagine a large wind band (and I do mean large) supplemented a secondary band (with 11 trumpeters!) that surrounds the listeners. Then add in a rambunctious circus-style band that crisscrosses the hall to the amusement of the audience. That should give you some picture of the way this work portrays the decadence of the Circus Maximus.

The actual fall of the Roman Empire is painted in a cataclysmic final movement Coda Veritas, crowned by an actual gunman who rises out of the ensemble at the last moment and fires into the air. Move over Beethoven!

Fast forward, though, to today’s “Friday Pick.” Nothing could provide more contrast than this delicate Lullaby for Natalie, written by Corigliano for the renown violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. The video performance you see here features her precious daughter Natalie, and will likely leave you charmed and soothed, as a good lullaby should.

The simple opening melody of the solo violin, a hesitant three-note pattern followed by another wisp of melody, deepens to be met by the yearning sound of the horn. A dialogue begins with the orchestra, yet the violin spins away and steps into the forefront, engaging the listener’s ear while the orchestra plays gorgeous touches of harmonies. Corigliano’s flair for the bombastic has melted away into crystalline lyricism.

And certainly the music video produced in cooperation with Anne Akiko Meyers adds a level of imagery that is irresistible. You may melt, watching little Natalia cherishing her violin, tending her dolls, and preparing to mirror her mother’s accomplishments.

If you’re charmed by this work, or curious about the dramatic Circus Maximus, you might want to listen to more of Corigliano’s works. You can start with his score to the 1998 film The Red Violin which became something of a pop hit. Or, you can turn to his high-spirited, phantasmagorical opera The Ghosts of Versailles, first performed in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991. Now that premiere caught the world’s imagination!

Or, for something quite different, enjoy Corigliano’s song cycle called Mr. Tambourine Man. Yes, it’s an engaging setting of seven poems by Bob Dylan. For voice and orchestra or voice and piano.

Actually, you won’t run out of interesting compositions by Corigliano (b. 1938). You cannot pigeon-hole his style or his creative compass. He has composed across all genres and stayed in the forefront through some of the most tumultuous decades in recent “classical music” history. In an era when pop culture dominates and established orchestras have shunned new works, here stands a glorious composer whose music finds its audience.

Note: Circus Maximus was commissioned by the University of Texas at Austin’s Wind Ensemble and given its premiere by the director of that virtuosic ensemble, Jerry Junkin. This isn’t just a “boring detail” you might find in a CD liner note, by the way. So many of today’s cutting edge works for Wind Ensemble come about due to commissions by university wind bands, or consortia of such bands (or even high-school wind ensembles). The world of “wind music” is one of the most dynamic arenas you can imagine—a place where new works by living composers stand a good chance of being performed. And performed well, I might add, as the standard of playing you find in today’s university and high-school wind bands is truly excellent.

I interviewed John Corigliano and Jerry Junkin about Circus Maximus a few years ago when the Dallas Winds were performing the work. You can find that podcast here: Part I and Part II.