Description
Perusal Score
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Video
The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by James Gaffigan, perform the wild Bacchanale from the opera Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns during the AVROTROS Friday Concerto, a series by Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS.
On the musical program:
Camille Saint-Saëns - Samson and Delilah: Bacchanale (arrangement by Andrea Clearfield)
The musicians:
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
James Gaffigan [conductor]
Recording: The AVROTROS Friday Concerto of Friday the 25th of September 2020, in the Great Hall of TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Duration
c.7 min 30 sec
Premiere
May 19 – 20, 2019
Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Dirk Brossé, music director
Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Dirk Brossé, music director
Commissioner
Commissioned by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia as part of the
American Composers Forum, Philadelphia Chapter /
The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia 2018-19 Steven R. Gerber Composer Residency.
Instrumentation
2 (II=picc.).2.2Acl.2-2.2.0.0-timp.perc(2)-strings
Program Notes
As part of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia/American Composers’ Forum Steven R. Gerber Composer Residency, I was commissioned to create a chamber orchestra arrangement of Camille Saint-Saëns’s famous “Danse Bacchanale” from his opera Samson and Delilah. This wild, provocative dance lends itself to exotic orchestration and rhythmic verve. I chose to remain within Saint-Saëns’s original framework while offering different soloistic and doubling choices and adding percussion for more color and energy, including a dumbek (Middle Eastern drum). The opening, originally for oboe solo, is now a seductive duet between the bassoon and oboe. The last bars have been slightly extended to create more drive to the work’s close.
— Andrea Clearfield
Performance History
| Date | Performer(s) | Venue | City/State |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2019 | The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Dirk Brossé, music director | Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts | Philadelphia, PA |
| May 20, 2019 | The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Dirk Brossé, music director | Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts | Philadelphia, PA |
| September 25, 2020 | Radio Filharmonisch Orkest James Gaffigan, music director | Great Hall of TivoliVredenburg | Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| August 20, 2021 | L'orchestre Mozart de Toulouse Emmanuel Plasson, music director | Théâtre des Franciscains | Béziers, France |