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Happy birthday, Bernard Rands!
March 2, 2019 in Uncategorized | Tags: Amy Mendillo, Angela Denoke, Bernard Rands, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Singers, Christoph Eschenbach, Clara Takarabe, Daniel Barenboim, Deanne von Rooyen, Duain Wolfe, Edward F. Schmidt, Jenny Gregoire, Johannes Moser, Katinka Kleijn, Lyrita, Margaret Hillis, Mathieu Dufour, Mihaela Ionescu, NMC Records, Pierre Boulez, Pulitzer Prize, Riccardo Muti, Sean McNeely | Leave a comment
Wishing a very happy eighty-fifth birthday to the Pulitzer Prize–winning British-American composer Bernard Rands!
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus have performed several of Rands’s compositions, on subscription concerts in Orchestra Hall as well as on tour to Europe. And during the 2019-20 season, music director Riccardo Muti will lead the Orchestra in the world premiere of the composer’s DREAM for Orchestra.
Below is a complete list of Rands’s works performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
December 2, 3, 4, and 7, 1993, Orchestra Hall
RANDS Le Tambourin, Suites 1 and 2
Pierre Boulez, conductor
May 8, 9, and 11, 2003, Orchestra Hall
RANDS apókryphos
Angela Denoke, soprano
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Duain Wolfe, director
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
World premiere. Composed in memory of Margaret Hillis, founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Commissioned by the Edward F. Schmidt Family Commissioning Fund for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
March 10, 11, and 12, 2005, Orchestra Hall
RANDS Cello Concerto
Johannes Moser, cello
Pierre Boulez, conductor
May 5, 6, 7, and 10, 2011, Orchestra Hall
August 26, 2011, Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria
August 28, 2011, Kultur- & Kongresszentrum, Lucerne, Switzerland
August 31, 2011, Grand Auditorium, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg
September 2, 2011, Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
September 5, 2011, Grosser Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, Austria
RANDS Danza Petrificada
Riccardo Muti, conductor
World premiere. Commissioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by The Edward F. Schmidt Family Commissioning Fund and written for Written for Mexico in Chicago 2010, a citywide celebration of the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution.
December 19, 20, and 21, 2013, Orchestra Hall
RANDS . . . where the murmurs die . . .
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Compositions by Rands also have been performed on other series at Symphony Center, including:
February 16, 2000, MusicNOW
RANDS Concertino
Amy Mendillo, oboe
Mathieu Dufour, flute
Sean McNeely, clarinet
Mihaela Ionescu, violin
Jenny Gregoire, violin
Clara Takarabe, viola
Katinka Kleijn, cello
Deanne von Rooyen, harp
May 16, 2002, Symphony Center Presents
RANDS Well-a-day!, My dove, and Silently she’s combing from Canti d’amor
Chicago Symphony Singers
Duain Wolfe, conductor
March 19, 2003, MusicNOW
RANDS Well-a-day!, My dove, and Silently she’s combing from Canti d’amor
RANDS My Child from apókryphos
Chicago Symphony Singers
Duain Wolfe, conductor
A number of new recording releases—from NMC Records and Lyrita—are also now available. More details are here.
Happy, happy birthday!
Daniel Barenboim @ 75: World and U.S. premieres
November 3, 2017 in Uncategorized | Tags: Angela Denoke, Aribert Reimann, Augusta Read Thomas, Barenboim75, Berlin Philharmonic, Bernard Rands, Charles Vernon, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Daniel Barenboim, Edison Denisov, Elias Tanenbaum, Elizabeth Norman, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Elliott Carter, Emanuel Ax, George Benjamin, Gidon Kremer, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Hanspeter Kyburz, Harrison Birtwistle, Hilary Summers, Isabel Mundry, Jay Alan Yim, John Corigliano, Joseph Guastafeste, Lalo Schifrin, Luciano Berio, Lynne Dawson, Margaret Hillis, Mathieu Dufour, Maxim Vengerov, Melinda Wagner, Michael John Devine, Michelle DeYoung, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Pierre Boulez, Robert Chen, Rodion Shchedrin, Shulamit Ran, Siefgried Wagner, Simone Nold, Stephen Hough, Stephen Kowalsky, Toru Takemitsu, Wilhelm Furtwängler, William Joyner, Wolfgang Rihm, Yo-Yo Ma, York Höller | 3 comments
Before and during his tenure as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s ninth music director, Daniel Barenboim was firmly committed to introducing new works to Chicago audiences. He also was instrumental in the continued cultivation of the Orchestra’s composer-in-residence program, frequently conducting works by John Corigliano, Shulamit Ran, and Augusta Read Thomas. With the Orchestra, Barenboim led over thirty world and U.S. premieres, and a complete list is below (all performances in Orchestra Hall, unless otherwise noted; an asterisk (*) indicates a work commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).
World premieres
March 8, 1990
*Tōru Takemitsu Visions
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
March 15, 1990
*John Corigliano Symphony No. 1
Stephen Hough, piano
John Sharp, cello
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 14, 1990 (Edman Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois)
*Stephen Kowalsky Last Voyage
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Barenboim acknowledges Shulamit Ran following the world premiere of her Legends on October 7, 1993 (Jim Steere photo)
April 30, 1991
*Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Concerto for Bass Trombone, Strings, Timpani, and Cymbals
Charles Vernon, bass trombone
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
February 4, 1993
*Melinda Wagner Falling Angels
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 7, 1993
*Shulamit Ran Legends for Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Barenboim and the Orchestra acknowledge Elliott Carter following the world premiere of his Partita on February 17, 1994 (Jim Steere photo)
February 17, 1994
*Elliott Carter Partita
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 12, 1995
*York Höller Aura
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
January 30, 1997
*Jay Alan Yim Rough Magic
Daniel Barenboim
May 15, 1997
*Aribert Reimann Violin Concerto
Gidon Kremer, violin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
February 5, 1998
*Sir Harrison Birtwistle Exody
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
February 12, 1998
Max Raimi Elegy
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
January 14, 1999
*Pierre Boulez Notations VII for Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
February 11, 1999
Elias Tanenbaum First Bassman for Contrabass and Orchestra
Joseph Guastafeste, bass
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
January 6, 2000
*Augusta Read Thomas Ceremonial
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 13, 2001 (Kultur- & Kongresszentrum, Lucerne, Switzerland)
*Hanspeter Kyburz Noesis for Large Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 27, 2001
*Elliott Carter Cello Concerto
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
May 8, 2003
*Bernard Rands apókryphos
Angela Denoke, soprano
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Duain Wolfe, director
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
May 22, 2003
*Melinda Wagner Extremity of Sky (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
Emanuel Ax, piano
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
May 29, 2003
Elliott Carter Of Rewaking
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 9, 2003
*Lalo Schifrin Fantasy for Screenplay and Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
May 19, 2005
*George Benjamin Dance Figures (Nine choreographic scenes for orchestra)
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 6, 2005
*Elliott Carter Soundings
Daniel Barenboim, piano and conductor
February 16, 2006
*Isabel Mundry Nocturno
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
June 1, 2006
*Augusta Read Thomas Astral Canticle
Mathieu Dufour, flute
Robert Chen, violin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
United States premieres
November 7, 1985
Siefgried Wagner Sehnsucht
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
May 9, 1991
Pierre Boulez Four movements from Le visage nuptial
(I. Conduite; II. Gravité. L’emmuré; IV. Evadné; and V. Post-scriptum)
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano
Lucy Shelton, soprano
Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

In 1995, Teldec released recordings of three CSO world premieres, all conducted by Barenboim: Carter’s Partita, Berio’s Continuo, and Takemitsu’s Visions.
May 16, 1991
Edison Denisov Symphonie pour grande orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
January 7, 1993
*Luciano Berio Continuo
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
October 1, 1998
Rodion Shchedrin Concerto cantabile
Maxim Vengerov, violin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 30, 1999
*Wolfgang Rihm Sotto voce
Daniel Barenboim, piano and conductor

Barenboim with Augusta Read Thomas during a rehearsal for the world premiere of her Aurora—co-commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic—in Berlin in June 2000
February, 24, 2000
Elliott Carter What Next?
Simone Nold, soprano
Lynne Dawson, soprano
Hilary Summers, contralto
William Joyner, tenor
Hanno Müller-Brachmann, bass-baritone
Michael John Devine, boy soprano
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
September 21, 2000
*Augusta Read Thomas Aurora
Elizabeth Norman, soprano
Daniel Barenboim, piano and conductor
October 4, 2001
*Isabel Mundry Panorama ciego
Daniel Barenboim, piano and conductor
December 13, 2001
Wilhelm Furtwängler Symphony No. 2 in E Minor
Daniel Barenboim, conductor