[Lepo Sumera] Symphony No.1 (Score-Video)
This symphony has 2 movements:
00:10 — I. ♩ ≈ 72 - attacca:
15:30 — II. ♩ = 60 – 82 - Allegro - Un poco meno messo
Performers:
Paavo Järvi / Malmö Symphony Orchestra
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Sumera's love for symphony orchestra was the reason why his musical material of a chamber work could grew into material for an orchestral work. The 1st movement of his First Symphony (1981) was born from a piano piece, the first one of the Two Pieces from the Year 1981.
This piano piece has become Lepo Sumera’s most frequently performed work, a kind of his musical cachet. It also marks a turning point in his musical style. After having applied free dodecaphony, chromatic modes (sometimes in aleatoric textures) and collage in the 1970s, he discovered natural diatonic modes for himself. Diatonic modes, long sections of motivic repetition and variation that appear in complex polyrhythmic and tonally ambiguous textures are characteristic to his works written 1981-86. At first sight, the abundance of motive repetitions in them suggests an influence of ‘minimal music’. Nevertheless, several other characteristics in Sumera’s works totally disagree with basic principles of the minimalist aesthetics: contrasting sections and suggestive climaxes, his emblematic concern about the overall form of a work In fact, works by American minimalists were not known in Estonia until 1983; Sumera derived his repetitive technique from the archaic Estonian runo songs, the incantatory nature of which fascinated him.
The First Symphony consists of two movements performed attacca. After the contrasting 2nd movement, which culminates in a gloomy grotesque, the material of the first movement returns in a long meditative coda.
(Source from https://www.emic.ee/, written by Merike Vaitmaa)
In my opinion, it's one of the best symphonies in 20th century, while using and combining modern music styles such as minimalism and polystylism, it also retains great accessibility, so that listeners who are not so familiar with contemporary music can also quickly accept and enjoy it.
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I do not own neither the score, nor the recordings used in this video. This is only for educational purposes. If you have any complaints regarding copyright issues, please write to me directly at asorabji20(at)gmail(dot)com before submitting a report to YouTube and I will remove the video as soon as possible.
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More Score-Videos of Sumera's Symphonies:
• LEPO SUMERA - Symphony No. 2 (Score Video)
• LEPO SUMERA - Symphony No. 4 "Serena borea...