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- Joan Tower
1920/2019 (2020)
- Associated Music Publishers Inc (World)
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Society, Jaap van Zweden, Music Director
Programme Note
Composer note
1920/2019 was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden, Music Director. It is dedicated to Deborah Borda, the orchestra’s President and CEO, in recognition of her vision for the creation of Project 19.
Project 19 is the Philharmonic’s initiative to commission and premiere nineteen new works by women composers in honor of the 2020 centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. Project 19 is the single largest commissioning project for women in history.
1920 was the year when the amendment was ratified and adopted — an important and long sought-after achievement. I began writing this music in 2019 as the #MeToo movement continued to grow. Victims of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment are ending their silence, finding strength by sharing their experiences and beliefs.
These two years — 1920 and 2019 — were probably the two most historically significant years for the advancement of women in society.
— Joan Tower
Media
Scores
Reviews
…monumental grandeur…
…a solid, driven piece…
Frankly, 1920 / 2019 is one of the best new pieces, in any genre, I have heard in recent years. I look forward to hearing it again. And I bet it will have a long life — that it will outlive the youngest person in the hall, whoever he or she was. Joan Tower is a composer to stand up and cheer for, as many of us did on Friday night.
After a long delay, Joan Tower’s 1920/2019 was premiered on Friday by the New York Philharmonic at Alice Tully Hall. It was worth the wait to hear this 14-minute work by one of America’s most eminent composers — who, at 83, is as inventive as ever…
The piece begins with weighty blocks of orchestral chords heaving over kinetic rhythmic riffs. Rising runs and, soon, a persistent yet varying five-note motif keep spiraling forward. Imaginative writing for percussion and bustling rhythmic activity — long traits of Tower’s music — course through this restless, episodic score. On the surface the mood is ominous, even threatening. But the sheer intricacy lends a stirring fortitude to the music.
During a long later section, the piece becomes like a little concerto for orchestra, featuring star turns for instruments in solo, duo, trio and small ensemble groups. Some observers have found Tower’s lucid music accessible almost to a fault. A better word to describe this engrossing, effective piece — and her style overall — is audible: All the multilayered, meter-fracturing workings of the score are laid out clearly. The Philharmonic’s music director, Jaap van Zweden drew a glittering, moody performance from the orchestra.
It’s a dramatic and engaging work, full of color, restless energy and optimism. Climbing motifs run throughout, both as scales and as pyramidal chords. Brass chords swell like suspense movie cues; repeated notes hammer through shifting meters; occasional wispy clouds of trills offer a moment’s respite before plunging back into the fray. There are a dizzying array of textures and timbres, including solos, duets and a percussion section feature among all of the more heavily orchestrated passages. Yet the piece has an unforced narrative coherence. While I doubt that even in the composer’s mind there’s any correspondence with specific events, the sense of being led through a century of history was palpable. The piece ends on high floating notes, evoking the promise of a better tomorrow.