Jennifer Higdon’s Trumpet Songs: I. Morning Opens

This March, the Daily Classical Music Post will introduce you to some of the most wonderful music ever composed—and, yes, it will all be by women composers!

https://youtu.be/DF7kakqQjkI

Jennifer Higdon began her musical studies (self-taught) at the age of 15; she didn’t begin formal lessons until she was 18, and she only began composition studies at the age of 21. She has received many awards for her works, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy. Her opera Cold Mountain was co-commissioned by Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Minnesota Opera in collaboration with North Carolina Opera, and won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere.

James Manheim says, "Part of Higdon's appeal is her colorful orchestration. . . . Her treatment of melody is at once rigorous and pleasantly appealing, and in fact predominantly short pieces . . . offer a good way to get a grip on her music." One of these short pieces, her Trumpet Songs (2004), were originally written for voice, but once you hear them played on the trumpet you can’t imagine that she didn’t have the trumpet in mind from the start.

My classical music post for today is Jennifer Higdon’s Trumpet Songs: I. Morning Opens.

 


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