The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
for orchestra
Commissioned by Euskadiko Orkestra – Basque National Orchestra
Description
First performance: 15 October 2012 – Pamplona, Spain
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Euskadiko Orkestra
Basque National Orchestra
First performance of the revised version: 31 January, 2013 Bordeaux, France
Conductor: Kwamé Ryan
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
I must confess that previous to receiving the commission for a short orchestral piece from the Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa for their ‘30th anniversary’, I didn’t know much about Basque music except for that there’s an amazing instrument: the tamburo basco. Fortunately I found and listened to many traditional songs from Ximun Haran’s collection on Google; extraordinary pieces that sing without words or lyrics.
There’s one song in particular that stayed in my memory. When I was listening to this song a picture in my mind appeared: an eagle gliding high in the skies, floating up high without moving, with it’s wings wide open; the glance of the eagle; the rustling of it’s wings in the wind; the endless space; the feeling of complete freedom.
/Peter Eötvös – 2011/
Performances
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Seven, Per Luciano Berio
Cond: Peter Eötvös
Metropolitana Orchestra
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Eötvös: Seven - violin concerto No 1 (Patricia Kopatchinskaja)
Eötvös: Per Luciano Berio
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Alba Regia Symphony Orchestra
cond: Gergely Duboczky
Eötvös: Alhambra violin concerto, Gliding of the eagle in the skies
BBC Symphony Orchestra London
Cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Santander Festival
Cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Santander Festival
cond. Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Halleluja oratorium
BR Orchestra, cond. Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Alle vittime senza nome, Halleluja - oratorium
Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra
Hungarian Radio Choir
Venue: Müpa Budapest
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the sky, Alle vittime senza nome, Halleluja oratorium
Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Alle vittime senza nome, Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra
Cond: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Cello concerto grosso, Alle vittime senza nome
Gothenburg Orchestra
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Cello concerto grosso, Alle vittime senza nome
Gothenburg Orchestra
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Cello concerto grosso, Alle vittime senza nome
Gothenburg Orchestra
cond.: Eötvös
Eötvös: Alle vittime senza nome, Gliding of the eagle in the skies
HR Orchestra
cond.: Eötvös
Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
Eötvös: Alle vittime senza nome, Gliding of the eagle in the skies
Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra
Cond: Peter Eötvös
Venue: Alter Oper Frankfurt
Eötvös: Gliding of the eagle in the skies, Seven
Staatskapelle Dresden,
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Akiko Suwanai, violin
Venue: Dresden Kulturpalast
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI
conductor: Gergely Madaras
Venue: Auditorium Arturo Toscanini
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
UK premiere
BBC Symphony Orchestra
cond.: Edward Gardner
Barbican Center London
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies
Tonhalle Orchestra
conductor: Lionel Bringuier
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies
Tonhalle Orchestra
conductor: Lionel Bringuier
Venue: Teatro Colon
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies
Tonhalle Orchestra
conductor: Lionel Bringuier
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies, DoReMi
vl. Akiko Suwanai
Savaria Symphony Orchestra
conductor: Gergely Madaras
International Bartók Festival
Eötvös: Speaking drums, The gliding of the eagle in the skies, zeroPoints
NHK Orchestra
Martin Grubinger, percussion
cond.: Peter Eötvös
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai
Conductor : Marco Angius
Auditorium
Eötvös: The gliding of the eagle in the skies
Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, USA
conductor: Gregory Vajda
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Wiener Konzerthaus
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
World Premiere (Revision)
Conductor: Kwamé Ryan
Orchestra: Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Orchestra: Euskadiko Orkestra - Basque National Orchestra
Venue: Auditorio Kursaal, San Sebastián
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Orchestra: Euskadiko Orkestra - Basque National Orchestra
Venue: Auditorio Kursaal, San Sebastián
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Orchestra: Euskadiko Orkestra - Basque National Orchestra
Venue: Palacio Euskalduna Jauregia, Bilbao
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Orchestra: Euskadiko Orkestra - Basque National Orchestra
Venue: Teatro Principal Antzokia, Vitoria-Gasteiz
Eötvös: The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies - World Premiere
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Orchestra: Euskadiko Orkestra - Basque National Orchestra
Venue: Auditorio Baluarte
Details
Publisher information
Schott Music Mainz
https://en.schott-music.com/shop/the-gliding-of-the-eagle-in-the-skies-no278976.html
Orchestration
3 Flutes (1st and 2nd also piccolo, 3rd also piccolo and alto flute)
3 Oboes (3rd also cor anglais)
3 Clarinets in A (3rd also bass clarinet)
3 Bassoons (3rd also Double bassoon)
4 Horns in F
3 Trumpets in Bb
3 Trombones (1st and 2nd Tenor trombone, 3rd Bass trombone)
1 Tuba
Timpani (also Bass drum and high Grelots)
Percussion (3 Players):
I. Conga,Tamburo basco, Crotales, Glockenspiel, Tubular bells, Triangel
II. Cajon, high (placed between conductor and concert master)
III. Cajon, low (placed between conductor and 1st Violoncello)
2 Harp
14 Violins I
12 Violins II
10 Violas
8 Violoncellos
6 Double basses
Further information
Some people believe that the Hungarian and Basque languages are related to one another. Although this theory is certainly wrong, the two are alike in that neither has anything to do with the languages of their neighbours. We may assume, then, that Peter Eötvös, the world-famous Hungarian composer/conductor, had some thoughts of his own about linguistic and cultural isolation when composing his short orchestral piece for the Basque National Orchestra in 2011/12.
One of the most popular Basque folk instruments are pipes like the high-pitched xirula and its somewhat larger cousin, the txistu. The Basques also use a great variety of drums and other percussion. (One may even find musicians who play the pipe with one hand and a drum with the other.) Accordingly, Eötvös uses a large percussion battery, including two cajóns—instruments shaped like wooden boxes that originated in Peru. His wind choir includes three piccolos, each tuned differently to evoke a folk instrument that is not always perfectly in tune. At the other end of the sound spectrum, the low brass (trombones and tuba) looms as a nearly-constant presence, playing their melodic fragments in majestic slow motion. The juxtaposition of very high and very low registers gives an idea of the vast spatial expanse in which the eagle of the title soars.
What begins as a trio of piccolos with percussion accompaniment soon expands into a section involving the full orchestra, with the slow, deep notes of the trombones and tuba against the faster, repeated-note patterns of the bassoons, horns and trumpets. A rhythmically active passage, using the asymmetrical meters characteristic of Basque folk music, is followed by a cadenza for solo violin in the highest register, a recall of the piccolo melody, and a surprise ending.
The first performance of The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies was given in Pamplona by the
Basque National Orchestra under Andrés Orozco-Estrada on October 15, 2012. The composer revised the score in 2015.
/Peter Eötvös – The Gliding of the Eagle in the Skies – 2012, rev. 2015/
Peter Laki
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