Lera Auerbach

## **Introduction**

Lera Auerbach is a Soviet-Russian born American composer born October 21st, 1973. Auerbach earned degrees in piano and composition from the Juilliard School where she studied under Joseph Kalichstein and Milton Babbitt. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in May of 2002 and has published over 100 works for orchestra, opera, ballet, choral, and chamber.

## **Work Analysis**

The piece I will be analyzing is Auerbach's Symphony No. 1 "Chimera." This orchestral piece was premiered November 10th in 2006 and was commissioned by the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. Chimera has 7 movements and calls for the use of 3 alto flutes, 3 English horns, 3 bass clarinets, 3 db bassoons, bass trombone, 1 timpani, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. A chimera is a female Greek mythology creature with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpents tail that breaths fire. Because of the name of the piece, it can be assumed that the symphony may be related or inspired by Greek mythology. The 1st movement Aegri Somnia opens up heavy with loud percussion and sharp horn before switching to a graceful melancholy violin solo. The horns and woodwinds play sustained notes in the background before the flutes start a separate melody that could be seen as a call and response with the violin. Throughout this movement, the violin and flute take most of the center stage. Movement 2, Post Tenebras Lux, opens with a main trumpet solo. This movement is eerier than the last and features more fast pace melodies. Movement 3, Gargoyles features a lot of harsh rhythms and is played at Allegro molto. Movement 3 is also the 2nd longest movement in the whole symphony. Et in Arcadia Ego, movement four is played at Andante and features a violin solo. There are many quiet short sustained notes in the background of the violin to keep rhythm. Siste, Viator the 5th movement, is Adagio and has a trumpet solo backed by sustained notes from the rest of the orchestra. This movement is highly aggressive and has a very large percussion involvement including the use of the crystal glasses which is prominent throughout. The last 2 movements Humum Mandere and Requiem for Icarus are both aggressive and are played with intensity. They can be played as part of the symphony or can be played separately as a stand-alone symphonic poem.

## **Comparisons**

Auerbach has mentioned many fellow Russian composers like Shostakovich as influences but really appreciates and is inspired by Sofia Gubaidulina a female Russian composer who recognized Auerbach's talent extremely early. Most of her work is said to be compared to works from the polystylism and postmodernism time however the amount of emotion she pours into her work can suggest a neo-romantic approach.

## **Observations**

I would love to hear this piece done live it is so beautiful and elegantly composed. I can subjectively see the blatant inspiration from Greek Mythology and thought that the use of such graceful solos by each instrument really complimented the idea of a Chimera because the creature is female but it is also a monster hence the intense percussion and long sustained backing. Enjoyed the heroic call and response techniques used and enjoyed looking into the life of a well known fantastic female composer

## **Works Cited**

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/contemporary-composer-lera-auerbach

https://classicalvoiceamerica.org/2017/03/06/auerbachs-dreams-concerto-holds-up-a-personal-mirror/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lera\_Auerbach

http://mediaresources.leraauerbach.com/index.php/selected-press-quotes/