nicholas 1 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 I have being trying to identify a piece of music for two years - without success. But now I have a lead... The music accompanied the title sequence in the HBO documentary "In Memoriam: New York" which was released in 2002, a profoundly moving documentary released a year after 9/11. I know it is performed by Leonard Slatkin and the NY Philharmonic. You can hear the piece in question if you put "New York Memoriam Documentary" into Google and go into the first site that comes up. Click on the small square which says "In Memoriam: New York" and the music starts up rather quietly in the background. It starts with a ?clarinet solo but then becomes much more distinctive, almost bluesy. I LOVE it.When I first heard it I thought it might be Copland or Bernstein or even Gershwin, but it sounds more 'modern' than these. Now further, if almost fruitless, researches have led me to suspect it MAY be by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, a composer I'm not familiar with.Help me. Someone. Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 9 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Sorry, doesn't ring a bell to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 44 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Very pretty. I thought it might be something by Steve Rouse, but I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 You can hear the piece in question if you put "New York Memoriam Documentary" into Google and go into the first site that comes up. Click on the small square which says "In Memoriam: New York" and the music starts up rather quietly in the background.Why post the in-depth instructions when you can provide a simple link?Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,088 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 I cannot identify the piece, Nicholas, but if it is of any help I believe all the music for the documentary is by American composers. Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, William Schuman and Ellen Zwilich are among those that can be heard on the soundtrack, but I've never seen the documentary myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingPin 194 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I wish I knew who wrote it, it's wonderful! At first I thought maybe Charles Ives, but I don't know enough of his work to be sure. I like it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholas 1 Posted November 6, 2007 Author Share Posted November 6, 2007 Thanks for everyone's replies. Sorry Neil - I wasn't able to provide the direct link myself - I'm technologically challenged and of a generation that has only just got our heads round cassettes.The quest goes on... and on...By the way, is Ellen Taaffe Zwilich a well-known composer in the US? I've heard a few bits and pieces by her now and like her work very much. How refreshing to hear a successful woman composer, of which there are so few. I wonder - I just wonder - whether the mystery piece in question could be by her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 385 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 It could be Zwilich.Some of the initial music, the first soft tutti after the English horn solo, sounds a lot like some of the lyrical music of Richard Danielpour (my old teacher), a composer who might as well have been represented on this series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_Tubist 6 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 It's from Copland's "Music for the Theatre". It's the third movement (Interlude). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,088 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 It's from Copland's "Music for the Theatre". It's the third movement (Interlude). Pour yourself a virtual pint, UK_Tubist, you're absolutely right! I've even got it on CD with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholas 1 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 It's from Copland's "Music for the Theatre". It's the third movement (Interlude).UK Tubist - I have no idea who you are, or what you do - but you will always hold a special place in my heart! THANK YOU! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 385 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 That is so funny! I have several recording of this piece, and I remember giving it a few listens, and liking it, but eventually I forgot all about it...It also makes perfect sense why I thought it reminds me a little of Danielpour's lyrical music.Still: I am very impressed how fresh and "current" this sounds, much more so than most other works of Copland. The one thing that betrays that this is more mid 20th century, is the cluttering of dissonance at the climax of the piece.But kudos to Aaron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholas 1 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Marcus - would you recommend a particular recording? Would love to get hold of the New York Phil one used in the documentary, but don't think it was ever released on CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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