- Title
- Symphonic Ode
- For
- orchestra
- Year Composed
- 1927–29
- Year Modified
- 1955 (revised)
- Scoring
- 2.2picc(I=flIII).3.corA.2.Ebcl.bcl.3.dbn-4(8).4.3.1-timp.perc(4): t.bells/xyl/cyms/tam-t/tgl/tpl.bl/wdbl/whip/BD/SD/TD-2harps-pft- strings
- ARCO Number(s)
- 19
- Category
- Orchestral
- Duration
- 19'
- Premieres
- 1. World: Boston, February 19th, 1932 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Serge Koussevitzky)
- 2. New York: New York, March 3rd, 1932 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Serge Koussevitzky)
- 3. Revised Version: Boston, February 3rd, 1956 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Charles Munch)
- Commission Info
- Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in celebration of the orchestra's fiftieth anniversary season, and revised on the occasion of the orchestra's 75th anniversary season
- Dedication
- To the memory of Natalie and Serge Koussevitzky
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes
- Publishing Status
- Published
Program Note
Copland was interested in experimenting with polyrhythms without direct use of jazz. "I have always regarded the Symphonic Ode as an important work. It had not been easy to compose, and it was difficult to perform, particularly at a time when orchestral performers were not trained to play rhythms that have since become standard." Copland, disappointed that the Ode was rarely performed, made a revised version for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1955. Nadia Boulanger wrote, ". . . with the Ode, more than ever, I have understood who you are, what you come to say, and how you are ready to give it a definite form."
- Author
- Vivian Perlis
- Year
- 1998