Inspiring
Heights:
Joan Tower
by Peter Aaron
“...Soon after, Tower began to adopt the graceful
and organic technique for which she is now so revered; taking
a leaf from her geologist father, several of Tower’s
greatest efforts reference the colorful worlds of minerals
and nature—“Black Topaz,” “Platinum
Spirals” (both 1976), “Silver Ladders” (1986),
“Big Sky” (2000), the ballet “Stepping Stones”
(1993), and “Sequoia” (1981), which resoundingly
evokes the imposing majesty of a massive redwood tree by utilizing
a full symphonic orchestra and some 25 percussion instruments.
“What impresses me about Joan’s music is its
directness—how it is projected straight to the listener,
and that includes the performers,” says fellow composer,
Bard professor, and Grawemeyer recipient George Tsontakis.
“There is no sleight-of-hand, no parlor tricks; what
you hear is what you get. And what you get is about inventive
rhythms, robust direction forward, and dimensional clarity.
But she probably would rather I just tell you that it knocks
your socks off—and okay, it often does that as well.”
One of Tower’s works has knocked the socks off many
in the classical world, though not by design. Commissioned
in 1986 by the Houston Symphony to write a fanfare in honor
of its 150th anniversary, she composed the first of her five
Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman, which has since become her
most lauded and performed series of compositions. But the
series has also provoked much controversy, as many have taken
its title as an affront to both Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare
for the Common Man” and the still largely male-dominated
conservatory. “[The title] is an homage to Copland and
to women, that’s all it is,” she says. “But
people have made such a big deal about it being some political
thing... CONTINUE...
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