Polaris
voyage for orchestra
- Year
- 2010
- Duration
- 00:14:00
- Category
- Full Orchestra
Instrumentation
3(II=picc.III=picc+afl).3.3(III=bcl).2.contraforte(or cbsn with low A) – 4(or 8).ptpt.3.3.1(contrabass if possible) – timp – perc(6): mar/vib/glsp/t.bells/crot/wood chimes/shell chimes/tam-t/BD – 2 harp – pno(=cel) – strings
Commission
Commissioned by the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, for the opening of the New World Centre. Partnered by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam; the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Music Director); the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; The Barbican, London; the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony
Programme notes
Thomas Adès' new work is scored for orchestra including groups of brass instruments which may be isolated from the stage. These instruments always play in canon, once in each of the three sections of the piece, entering in order from the highest (trumpets) to the lowest (bass tuba). Their melody, like all the music in this work, is derived from a magnetic series, a musical device heard here for the first time, in which all twelve notes are gradually presented, but persistently return to an anchoring pitch, as if magnetised. With the first appearance of the twelfth note, marked clearly with the first entrance of the timpani, the poles are reversed. At the start of the third and final section a third pole is discovered which establishes a stable equilibrium with the first.
The piece is named for Polaris, the North Star, or Pole Star, around which the other stars appear to rotate as if it were itself a magnetic pole, and which has since ancient times been used by seafarers as a navigational tool.
Polaris - Voyage for orchestra was composed for the opening of the New World Symphony's new hall at Miami Beach, Florida, designed by Frank Gehry, and the first performance took place on January 26, 2011 under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas.
© Philip Jones, 2010
Reviews
‘I’ve written the piece so that members of the brass have these big, mobile phrases that are played over everything else. It’s very much built to show off the space, so you can hear the hall to its fullest advantage.’
The Miami Herald (Thomas Ades), 23, January 2011
‘The title refers to the North Star, or Pole Star, around which other stars appear to rotate. For this 15-minute score Mr. Adès has devised an elusive melody that is played in canon by groups of brass instruments in alcoves and on balconies around the hall. All 12 pitches are used, but the notes keep circling back to a magnetic main pitch. While this almost ancient-sounding musical element unfolds, the rest of the orchestra plays murky riffs and skittish passages that evoke watery, gurgling patterns, in drips and droplets.
Mr. Rosner’s film, projected on the various sail-like surfaces, explores themes of navigation and separation by depicting two young women who wait on rocky cliffs and wander sandy beaches, looking to the sea, wondering about the sailors who have left them ashore.
Mr. Thomas drew a colorful and commanding performance from the players. One exploding orchestral climax was like a Big Bang, scattering motifs into shards of notes to reveal a lumbering, elemental bass line that gravitationally pulls the music back to earth.’
The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini), 27 January 2011
Availability
Score 0571536824 on sale, parts for hire
For the video installation, please contact the Hire Library for a referral to the video artist
Scores and publication
Upcoming performances
No performances found.
Previous performances
- — Tonhalle Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Tonhalle Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Tonhalle Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Narodowe Forum Muzyki (Wrocław, Poland) (19:00) — Poland — Composer
- — BOZAR (Brussels, Belgium) — Belgium — Composer
- — Grand Manège - Namur Concert Hall (Namur, Belgium) — Belgium — Composer
- — Koerner Hall, Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON, Canada) — Canada — Composer
- — Amphithéâtre de l'Opéra National de Lyon (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France) — France — Composer
- — Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall (Tokyo, Japan) — Japan — Composer
- — Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary) — Hungary — Composer
- — The Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Palace of Arts (Budapest, Hungary) — Hungary — Composer
- — Philharmonie (Paris, France) — France — Composer
- — Philharmonie (Paris, France) (20:30) — France — Composer, Conductor
- — Philharmonie (Paris, France) (20:30) — France — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall, Birmingham — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Cour du Château Louis XI (La Côte-Saint-André, Rhône-Alpes, France) — France — Composer
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Royal Albert Hall (London, United Kingdom) (19:30) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Symphony Hall (Birmingham, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Snape Maltings Concert Hall (Snape, Suffolk, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Seiji Ozawa Hall (Lenox, MA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Michael Fowler Centre (Wellington, New Zealand) — New Zealand — Composer
- — Auckland Town Hall (Auckland, New Zealand) — New Zealand — Composer
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Claudelands Arena (Hamilton, New Zealand) — New Zealand — Composer
- — Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Harpa (Reykjavík, Iceland) — Iceland — Composer
- — BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — The Music Center at Strathmore (North Bethesda, MD, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, MD, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore, MD, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Kosmos (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Kosmos (Berlin, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer, Conductor
- — Stadttheater (Giessen, Hessen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — Grosser Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks (Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — New York City Center, New York (15:00) — USA — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — New York City Center, New York (19:30) — USA — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — New York City Center, New York (19:30) — USA — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London — United Kingdom — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London (19:30) — United Kingdom — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London — United Kingdom — Composer, Pianist, Conductor
- — Koerner Hall, Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON, Canada) — Canada — Composer
- — Granada Theatre, Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara, CA, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Symphony Hall (Boston, MA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall (Boston, MA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Symphony Hall (Boston, MA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Sydney Opera House (Sydney, NSW, Australia) (18:30) — Australia — Composer, Conductor
- — Sydney Opera House (Sydney, NSW, Australia) — Australia — Composer, Conductor
- — Auditorium della RAI 'Arturo Toscanini' (Turin, Piedmont, Italy) — Italy — Composer
- — Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal) — Portugal — Composer
- — Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal) — Portugal — Composer
- — No Venue (Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — No Venue (Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — No Venue (Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany) — Germany — Composer
- — No Venue (Santa Cruz, CA, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) — Australia — Composer
- — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) — Australia — Composer
- — Barbican Theatre (London, United Kingdom) — United Kingdom — Composer
- — Grande Auditório, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal) — Portugal — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City, NY, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco, CA, USA) — USA — Composer
- — Het Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, Netherlands) — Netherlands — Composer, Conductor
- — Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (20:00) — USA — Composer, Conductor
- — Lincoln Theatre (Miami Beach, FL, USA) — USA — Composer
- — New World Center (Miami Beach, FL, USA) — USA — Composer
Recordings
- Adès: Asyla, Tevot, Polaris, Brahms — 2017 — LSO Live (LSO0798)
- Hyperion New Release Sampler – March 2017 — 2017 — Hyperion (HYP201703)
- Polaris — 2014 — ABC Classics
- Adès: Polaris & Mahler: Symphony No. 9 — 2012 — New York Philharmonic (NYP20120104)