Symphony No. 3 (Harris)

Roy Harris wrote his Symphony No. 3 in 1939 on a commission from Hans Kindler but gave it to Serge Koussevitzky instead (Stehman, 1984). It is now regarded as "the quintessential American symphony" (Canarina, 1993); it is "the most widely performed and recorded of all American symphonies." [Neil Butterworth, "The American Symphony". Aldershot: Ashgate (1998): 84] The music is scored for 3 flutes (the third doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, vibraphone and strings.

The score was published by G. Schirmer with copyright 1940. The rehearsal numbers are circled and are actually measure numbers divided by 10.

In one movement, the work begins with a tragic melody for the cellos, soon joined by the violas and gradually joined by low woodwinds and low brass. With the entry of the horns, the mood turns more lyrical. This leads almost imperciptibly to a section beginning at rehearsal number 21 in which muted string arpeggios accompany solo woodwinds. "Among American orchestral musicians this episode has come be known as the 'wallpaper section' because the pages and pages of arpeggios in the string parts look like a wallpaper design." (Canarina, 1993) At 32 the music begins gradually accelerating, and at 36 the string players gradually begin removing the mutes from their instruments. This leads at 39 to energetic exchanges between massed woodwinds and pizzicato strings and the famous timpani solo at 42; the ensuing section was described by the composer as "fugal" but which others describe more precisely as "canonic development." A change in tempo after 63 to meno mosso, pesante, is indicated by the periodic beating of the timpani on D and tragic melodies on the woodwinds. An F-sharp on the horns, trombones, violas and cellos (with a C-sharp on the violins) leads at 70 to the first and only G minor tonic chord in the entire Symphony, concluding the work on an unequivocally tragic note.

According to Harris, the symphony is in five connected sections: Tragic, Lyrical, Pastoral, Fugue Dramatic, Dramatic Tragic. "After the first performance, Harris made two cuts" to the Pastoral section, specifically, measures 274 - 301 and 308 - 316. [(Butterworth, 1998): 86]

In 1939, Koussevitzky conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the premiere. Success was neither "immediate" nor "unequivocal" but eventually the work achieved "legendary status" and "became the most often performed and one of the most widely admired works in the [symphonic] genre." (Stehman, 1984) The first edition of Kent Kennan's orchestration book quotes passages from this Symphony to illustrate good writing for cello, timpani and vibraphone. No other Harris works are quoted in the book.

This work is considered an influential work that uses a number of techniques that become common in subsequent American classical music, including "massive but spacious textures; a new emphasis on vital, syncopated rhythms... and a rich harmonic palette."Haskins, Rob, "Orchestral and Chamber Music in the Twentieth Century", pgs. 173 - 178, in the "Garland Encyclopedia of World Music"]

Discography

Lasting about 20 minutes, this Symphony fit on one side of an LP. Nowadays, CDs tend to pair this work with other Third Symphonies by American composers commissioned by Koussevitzky. A Deutsche Grammophon repackaging of Leonard Bernstein performances with the New York Philharmonic in the "American Masters" series pairs the Harris with William Schuman's Symphony No. 3 (plus the Barber Adagio for Strings with Bernstein conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic to fill up the previously released pairing), while Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Chandos play Harris and Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3. Naxos, on the other hand, has Marin Alsop and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra playing the Harris No. 3 with the seldom heard Symphony No. 4 (with the Colorado Symphony Chorus joining in).

Koussevitzky was the first to record this symphony, and Harris "himself regarded this version as the finest interpretation." [(Butterworth, 1998): 84] Koussevitzky's recording is faster than Bernstein. Of the recordings available as of 1998, all observed Harris's cuts to the Pastoral section except Toscanini's and Järvi's. [(Butterworth, 1998): 86] One of the most obvious deviations from the score is the recording conducted by Howard Hanson, which has a "cymbal stroke on the final bar." [(Butterworth, 1998): 84]

References

* John Canarina, "The American Symphony", "A Guide to the Symphony", ed. Robert Layton. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1993): 408 - 410
* Kent Wheeler Kennan, "The Technique of Orchestration". Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc. (1952): 27, 200, 202, 207
* Dan Stehman, "Roy Harris: An American Musical Pioneer". Boston: Twayne Publishers (1984): 63 - 69