Jennifer Higdon (born 1962)

Donald Macleod in conversation with award winning American composer Jennifer Higdon.

If you were to ask Jennifer Higdon what her biggest musical influence might be, she’s more likely to cite Lennon and McCartney than Bach or Beethoven. Born in 1962 in New York, the soundtrack of her childhood was the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and Peter Paul and Mary, the Rolling Stones, and reggae. A move to Atlanta, Georgia, and then to a farmhouse in rural Tennessee, added bluegrass and country music. It wasn’t until Higdon was in her teens that her musical curiosity directed her towards classical music. Formal studies followed, and she began to compose when she was 21 years old. Coming to classical music later on, has been, according to Higdon, a significant factor in her own musical language. She’s now one of the most performed living American composers. Having just completed her second opera and a concerto in the past year, Higdon is much in demand, with commissions on her books that take her right up to 2024.

Recorded at the end of May, speaking to Donald Macleod from Articulate Studios in Philadelphia, USA, in an extended interview Jennifer Higdon gives a fascinating insight into her life and her musical preoccupations. Starting with strings on Monday, they move on to vocal writing, the influence of colour on music, the natural world and writing concertos, an area which has now become something of a speciality.

Music Featured:

Dance Card (No 5, Machina Rockus) String Poetic (II: Nocturne, arr for cello and piano) String Poetic (III: Blue Hills of Mist) Echo dash Voices Viola Sonata (II: Declamatory) Concerto for Orchestra (2nd mvt) Love Sweet (No 2, The Giver of Stars; No 5, A Fixed Idea) O magnum mysterium The Singing Rooms (III: The Interpretation of Dreams (excerpt); IV: Confession) Cold Mountain (Chorus: Our Beautiful Country) A Quiet Moment Love Came Down Blue Cathedral (excerpt) Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams (No 4, In the Blue Fields they sing) City Scape (III: Peachtree Street) Blue Cathedral Piano Trio (I: Pale Yellow; II: Fiery Red) City Scape (II: River sings a song to trees) Scenes From the Poet’s Dreams (II: Summer Shimmers Across the Glass of Green Ponds) Autumn Music Secret & Glass Gardens (excerpt) Splendid Wood (excerpt) All Things Majestic (I: Teton Range) Violin Concerto (III: Fly Forward) Concerto 4-3 for String trio and Orchestra (I: The Shallows) Percussion Concerto (excerpt) Zaka (excerpt) Concerto for Orchestra (3rd mvt) Harp Concerto (III: Lullaby)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced in Cardiff by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Jennifer Higdon (born 1962) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000y70t

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z