The Golden Dance

Tim Page has described Five as "...another in a distinguished series of compositions Wuorinen has written for the cellist Fred Sherry. Dating from 1987, it is the most recent piece on this disc and (to employ, reluctantly, what has become an increasingly noxious code word) probably the most "accessible."" Five was commissioned by the New York City Ballet for their 1988 American Music Festival. Fred Sherry writes: "Five is a cellist's showpiece, a dance, a thrill for the audience, and a beautiful example of Wuorinen's versatility and technique." Michael Steinberg writes: "The Golden Dance was commissioned with the cooperation of the San Francisco Symphony by the Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies program. It was written for Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony on the occasion of the Orchestra's 75th anniversary. It was completed in May, 1986 and was introduced on September 10, of that year. Wuorinen, who likes to make his titles topical and, if possible, punning, has called this piece for San Francisco The Golden Dance. No need to elaborate on the associations called up by the word 'golden' in California. The other meaning is not obvious, and that is the role played in the design by the golden section, that classical division of a line, thought by the Greeks to yield an aesthetically perfect proportional relationship, where the smaller section is to the larger as the larger is to the whole." The Concerto for Amplified Violin and Orchestra was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for Paul Zukofsky, Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was composed between June 25, 1971 and April 2, 1972 and premiered at Tanglewood on August 4, 1972. The Concerto is in three movements and is marked by a unique relationship between soloist and orchestra; they are on an equal acoustic footing. The amplification of the soloist enables him to compete with the entire orchestra at full volume. The impact is visceral and immediate.