{"id":11292,"date":"2024-05-20T10:41:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T10:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=11292"},"modified":"2024-05-13T18:50:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:50:17","slug":"kfmf-marks-elliot-goldenthals-70th-with-his-symphony-no-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=11292","title":{"rendered":"KFMF marks Elliot Goldenthal\u2019s 70th with his \u2018Symphony No. 3\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

American composer Elliot Goldenthal\u2019s affinity with Poland and that nation\u2019s cultural icons reached another pinnacle with his \u2018Symphony No. 3\u2019, which will be performed as part of the Krakow Film Music Festival\u2019s \u2018Traces of Memory\u2019 evening at the Krakow Philharmonic Concert Hall on May 22.<\/p>\n

The 43-minute work is inspired by words of the Polish poet and activist Barbara Sadowska, who died aged 46 in 1986, three years after the death of her son Grzegorz Przemyk, aged 19.<\/p>\n

The young man\u2019s death became emblematic of the world\u2019s struggle against authoritarianism as it is believed widely that he was beaten and murdered by communist authorities in response to his mother\u2019s political protests.<\/p>\n

Goldenthal (pictured top) had long intended to write a symphony for voice and orchestra using Titania\u2019s \u2018Ode to the Environment\u2019 from \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u2019. That changed when he was invited to create a piece using Barbara Sadowska\u2019s words for the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, which was founded in 2005 by Elzbieta Penderecka, widow of the late Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The orchestra had collaborated with him before and other Oscar-winning including Hans Zimmer and Jan A. P. Kaczmarek,<\/p>\n

New York-based Goldenthal became acquainted with Krzysztof Penderecki (pictured with him below) and Elzbieta Penderecka on frequent visits to Poland in connection with the influential Film Music Festival held annually in Krak\u00f3w since 2008.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

His first visit was in 2012 and in 2015 he was the inaugural winner of the festival\u2019s Wojciech Kilar Award, named for the Polish pianist and composer who died in 2013 aged 81. Kilar wrote the music for more than 130 films including Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s \u2018Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula\u2019, Jane Campion\u2019s \u2019Portrait of a Lady\u2019 and Roman Polanski\u2019s Oscar-winning film \u2018The Pianist\u2019.<\/p>\n

The festival assembled a council of experts to choose the first recipient of the Kilar Award and organisers said Goldenthal was an almost unanimous choice. \u2018In his music,\u2019 the FMF said, \u2018Goldenthal balances between dissonant, atonal music and classical harmony, often during a single phrase, blending traditional orchestral music with jazz and rock, as well as electronic music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival noted that the composer is comfortable working on pieces that are extensive symphonically and chorally as well as more ambient and intimate as he creates both traditional and unusual compositions: \u2018Goldenthal is highly valued for his unique, dark, and almost dense style. None of the contemporary composers of film music use their talent in creating works in such a variety of musical genres.\u2019<\/p>\n

Goldenthal won the Academy Award for his score to \u2018Frida\u2019, directed by his partner Julie Taymor, who created the original \u2018The Lion King\u2019 on Broadway. He wrote the music for Taymor\u2019s \u2018Titus\u2019, \u2018Across the Universe\u2019, \u2018The Tempest\u2019, \u2018A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u2019 and \u2018The Glorias\u2019. He was Oscar-nominated for best score for Neil Jordan\u2019s \u2018Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles\u2019 and \u2018Michael Collins\u2019.<\/p>\n

He also provided the music for Jordan\u2019s \u2018The Butcher Boy\u2019 and \u2018The Good Thief\u2019 amid a range of films that include \u2018Alien3\u2019, \u2018Batman Forever\u2019, \u2018Batman & Robin\u2019 and \u2018Heat\u2019. Busy in the concert hall, Goldenthal composes chamber music and writes symphonies, ballets and operas. As well as the Oscar, he has won two Golden Globes, three Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards<\/p>\n

At the 2018 FMF, Goldenthal spoke of his admiration of Poland\u2019s great military hero Tadeusz Ko\u015bciuszko, a general and architect who played a significant role in Polish and American history. In tribute, he wrote \u2018Concerto for Trumpet and Strings\u2019, which was performed at the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice and the ICE Krak\u00f3w Congress Centre.<\/p>\n

The dedication was related to the first time the composer went to Krak\u00f3w and heard the hourly live bugle calls that have been heard for centuries from the tower of St. Mary\u2019s Church in the city\u2019s Grand Square,\u2018They echo Ko\u015bciuszko\u2019s values,\u2019 Goldenthal said. \u2018He was a great hero of the American Revolution and he instilled the values of social issues that are ever more important today. These issues come up every twenty years or so and it seems like we go down the same dark road but Ko\u015bciuszko still has the ability to inspire.\u2019<\/p>\n

After the Beethoven Academy Orchestra approached him for the Sadowska commission, Goldenthal became affected deeply by the poet\u2019s work. He spent two years on an intense and moving vocal symphony that was to have debuted in Poland in August 2020 until the coronavirus pandemic got in the way. Along with everything that happened as a result of Covid 19, the world situation regarding authoritarianism has only grown more threatening. \u2018Symphony No. 3\u2019 challenges that boldly.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Traces of Memory\u2019 concert programme was inspired by two anniversaries: The 30th anniversary of the Polish release of \u2018Schindler\u2019s List\u2019, with the Oscar-winning score by John Williams, and Goldenthal\u2019s 70th birthday. The concert also will feature works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Antoni Komasa-\u0141azarkiewicz and the band Kroke. The concert is organised in cooperation with the Krakow Philharmonic and the United States Consulate in Krakow, which has been a part of the city for 50 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett American composer Elliot Goldenthal\u2019s affinity with Poland and that nation\u2019s cultural icons reached another pinnacle with his \u2018Symphony No. 3\u2019, which will be performed as part of the Krakow Film Music Festival\u2019s \u2018Traces of Memory\u2019 evening at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1694,8,9],"tags":[1481,4171,2156,4115],"class_list":["post-11292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-krakow-film-music-festival","category-music","category-news","tag-elliot-goldenthal","tag-krakow-film-music-festival","tag-krakow-philharmonic-orchestra","tag-krzysztof-penderecki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11292"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11299,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11292\/revisions\/11299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}