Composers Datebook

Perhaps the fanfare is the most optimistic and hopeful of all musical forms, since it signals the start of something new and worth noting. The American composer Adam Schoenberg* was feeling optimistic and hopeful when he wrote the fanfare that opens his “American Symphony,” a work premiered on this date in 2011 by the Kansas City Symphony led by Michael Stern. “’American Symphony’ was inspired by the 2008 presidential election,” says Schoenberg, “when both parties asked the people to embrace change and make a difference. I was both excited and honored about ushering in this new era in our nation’s history.” Schoenberg celebrated his 28th birthday a few weeks after Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, and says that just a few days after the election got the idea for his new Symphony after hearing what he calls “the quintessential American symphony,” namely Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3, composed in 1946, just after the end of World War II. Not coincidentally, Copland’s Symphony includes his famous “Fanfare for the Common Man” as a key thematic statement “I believe Copland wanted to bring beauty and peace into the world during a time of great turmoil,” says Schoenberg “and seeing that our country and world had needs similar to those of Copland’s time, I set out to write a modern American symphony that paid homage to our past and looked forward to a brighter future.”