Augusta Read Thomas (1964 - Present)

Introduction
Augusta Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of Music with Paul Patterson, as well as with Alan Stout and M. William Karlins at Northwestern University.

She taught at the Eastman School of Music and received tenure there at the age of 33, but left to teach at the Northwestern University School of Music. While still at Eastman, she was appointed Composer in Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,a post she retained until 2006, when she was succeeded by Osvaldo Golijov and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

https://music.uchicago.edu/page/augusta-read-thomas - Photo

Work Analysis
Astral Canticle is a double concerto for violin, flute, and orchestra by the American composer Augusta Read Thomas. The work was Thomas's sixth and final commission by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra before she concluded her nine-year tenure there as composer-in-residence. It was first performed in Chicago on June 1, 2006, by the flutist Mathieu Dufour, the violinist Robert Chen, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Daniel Barenboim. The piece is dedicated to Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.The composition was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Music.Astral Canticle has a duration of roughly 20 minutes and is composed in one continuous movement. Thomas described elements of the work in the score program notes, writing, "The title is derived from Astral connected with the stars; and Canticled, denoting a song or chant."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PnjJl8eE80

Comparisons
As the entire work is derived from the opening materials, a very integrated sound palette exists, yet at the same time, there are many different characters of music, and spirits, that unfold such that the 20-minute work contains several sections that are of varying personality. For instance, the middle of the work is akin to a slow movement and the end of the work is akin to a rhythmic and driving finale, but simple movement demarcations are not easily applicable as the music's flow is fluid and interconnected from section to section. In the final 1/3 of the piece, there is a rhythmic, punchy dance-like passage in 10/8 meter which transforms into a driving, metrical, and playful passage which is led by double bass pizzicati; all of this is reminiscent of Igor Stravinsky crossed with Charles Mingus.

Observations
A graceful chant-like canticle, played extremely quietly by the two soloists with very little vibrato, opens the composition. Certain "hidden" members of the orchestra (hidden but on stage) hold the resonance of this calm chant, thereby slowly implying warm harmonies. The canticle weaves its way through the entire composition in one variation or another. The first variation is led by the orchestra, which, after about 90 seconds, responds to the delicate opening in a majestic, fanfare-like manner. The virtuosic soloists play back to the orchestra what they just heard, which results in a very demanding passage for the violin soloist. The two worlds (chant-like and radiant-fanfare) that have been established evolve, interconnect, and influence each other. As the entire work is derived from the opening materials, a very integrated sound palette exists, yet at the same time, there are many different characters of music, and spirits, that unfold such that the 20-minute work contains several sections that are of varying personality. For instance, the middle of the work is akin to a slow movement and the end of the work is akin to a rhythmic and driving finale, but simple movement demarcations are not easily applicable as the music's flow is fluid and interconnected from section to section.