A Rare American Oratorio At Carnegie HallHear an intriguing program pairing John Adams' gorgeous Harmonium with an oratorio by black Canadian-American composer R. Nathaniel Dett — a work whose 1937 premiere was weirdly cut short.
Spring For Music: A Rare American Oratorio At Carnegie Hall
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A Rare American Oratorio At Carnegie Hall
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The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival Chorus came to Carnegie Hall on May 9, 2014, as one of the last orchestras to participate in the Spring for Music festival.
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Their performance began with John Adams' 'Harmonium,' a three-movement setting of poems by John Donne and Emily Dickinson written in 1981 for chorus and orchestra.
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Visitors from Cincinnati waved green scarves to salute their hometown heroes — a tradition at the Spring for Music festival, which just ended as a project after a four-year run that brought less-heralded orchestras from around North America to Carnegie Hall.
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Members of the orchestra and Conlon also sported green accessories.
Melanie Burford/Prime for NPR
Conductor James Conlon often champions rarely heard music, and wanted to resuscitate R. Nathaniel Dett's 1937 oratorio The Ordering of Moses -- a piece whose broadcast premiere was interrupted.
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The soloists, orchestra and chorus acknowledge the audience's warm applause for the Dett oratorio — which was a New York premiere, 77 years after the piece was written.
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Hear an intriguing program pairing John Adams' gorgeous Harmonium with an oratorio by black Canadian-American composer R. Nathaniel Dett — a work whose 1937 premiere was weirdly cut short.
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