''New England Triptych'' is an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l composition by American composer William Schuman, based on works of

William Billings William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) was an American composer and is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School. Life William Billings was born in Boston, Province ...

. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an

comprising three

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(3rd doubling

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

), two oboes,

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

E-flat clarinet The E-flat (E) clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, smaller than the more common B clarinet and pitched a perfect fourth higher. It is typically considered the sopranino or piccolo member of the clarinet family and is a transposing inst ...

, two clarinets,

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones,

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, percussion (

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

, tenor drum), and strings.

Overview

Subtitled "Three Pieces for Orchestra After William Billings", ''New England Triptych'' is basically an expansion of Schuman's 1943 ''William Billings Overture'' (premiered by

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

in 1944 but never published, and since withdrawn by the composer). ''New England Triptych'' was written in 1956 and premiered on October 28 of that year by the Orchestra of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

under the direction of Andre Kostelanetz, who had commissioned it. Schuman prefaced his score with this note (and reprinted the pertinent texts for each hymn): The first movement, "Be Glad then, America", is built on these lines from Billings' text: After a short introduction by solo timpani, the strings develop music that suggests the "Halleluyah" of the end. Trombones and trumpets start the main section in a varied setting of the words "Be Glad then, America, Shout and Rejoice." The solo timpani returns, leading to a fugal section based on the words "And Ye Shall Be Satisfied." The music gains momentum as combined themes lead to a climax, followed by a free adaptation of Billings' "Halleluyah" music and a final reference to the "Shout and Rejoice" music. The second movement, "When Jesus Wept", begins with a solo by bassoon and soon the bassoon is accompanied by oboe. "When Jesus Wept" is a round and uses Billings' music in its original form. . The third movement, "

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

", is a patriotic hymn first published by Billings in 1770 and revised in 1778. The orchestral piece derives both from the spirit of the hymn and the marching song: ''New England Triptych'' has become one of the works most indelibly associated with William Schuman. It also exists in an arrangement by the composer for concert band although the "Chester" movement was revised and lengthened.

Recordings

Antal Doráti recorded ''New England Triptych'' for London Records (OS 26442) with the National Symphony Washington DC on 23-26 & 30 April 1975 and it was released in December 1976 on LP, in the US only. A CD issue has been published by The Doráti Edition (ADE 050).Antal Doráti and his Recorded Legacy by Richard Chlupaty, 2013

References

External links

Presser Perusal Score
(at Issuu.com) (with preface) {{Portal bar, Classical Music, Music Compositions by William Schuman Compositions for symphony orchestra Concert band pieces Orchestral suites 1956 compositions