FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2018 Contact: Deirdre Roddin (212) 875-5700; [email protected]
THE ART OF THE SCORE ALEC BALDWIN, Artistic Advisor
SCORES PERFORMED LIVE TO COMPLETE FILMS
THERE WILL BE BLOOD Conducted by HUGH BRUNT September 12–13, 2018
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in Its 50th Anniversary Conducted by ANDRÉ DE RIDDER September 14–15, 2018
The New York Philharmonic will present the sixth season of The Art of the Score, September 12–15, 2018, featuring complete screenings of two films with their acclaimed scores — both incorporating classical music — performed live to the films: There Will Be Blood, with Jonny Greenwood’s score conducted by Hugh Brunt in his Philharmonic debut, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with André de Ridder conducting works by Richard Strauss, Ligeti, Johann Strauss II, and Khachaturian. There Will Be Blood director / writer Paul Thomas Anderson said of 2001: A Space Odyssey, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year: “It’s so hard to do anything that doesn’t owe some kind of debt to what Stanley Kubrick did with music in movies.” Actor and Philharmonic Board Member Alec Baldwin returns as Artistic Advisor of The Art of the Score, which explores some of the most distinctive uses of music in film.
“The Art of the Score demonstrates how scoring illuminates film,” said Alec Baldwin, the series’ Artistic Advisor. “Just take the opening sequence of 2001, ‘The Dawn of Man,’ which never ceases to amaze and unsettle me — apes on the verge of the Homo sapiens era experience God or ‘Genius’ or some such inspiration. There is no dialogue; instead, Kubrick’s musical choice brings awe to their discovery of tools, and their subsequent decision to use them to kill. That scene is evoked in There Will Be Blood, with Jonny Greenwood’s score — combining classical music with his own works — adding a chilling layer to the moment when the protagonist uses a bowling pin to deadly purpose.”
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THERE WILL BE BLOOD The Art of the Score will open September 12–13, 2018, with a complete screening of There Will Be Blood with Jonny Greenwood’s Grammy-nominated score performed live to the film, conducted by Hugh Brunt in his Philharmonic debut.
Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood incorporates the third movement of Brahms’s Violin Concerto and Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, as well as Mr. Greenwood’s previously composed classical works: Popcorn Superhet Receiver, for string orchestra, and smear, for two ondes Martenots and ensemble. Assistant Concertmaster Michelle Kim will be the soloist in the third movement of Brahms’s Violin Concerto, and Principal Cello Carter Brey will be featured in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. The lead guitarist of the rock band Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood grew up studying viola and counts Ligeti, Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Paul Lansky among his primary influences.
Hugh Brunt is the co-founder / co-artistic director of the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), which recorded There Will Be Blood as well as Jonny Greenwood’s scores for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master (conducted by Hugh Brunt) and Phantom Thread. He also conducted the premieres of seven short works by Jonny Greenwood with the LCO Soloists.
Daniel Day-Lewis stars in writer / director Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 drama about a ruthless oilman during California’s oil boom at the turn of the 20th century, inspired by Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two, Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Cinematography.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY The Art of the Score’s second program, September 14–15, 2018, will feature a complete screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the score — featuring music by Richard Strauss, Ligeti, J. Strauss II, and Khachaturian — performed live to the film, conducted by André de Ridder and featuring Musica Sacra, directed by Kent Tritle. This year marks the 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Early in the production for 2001: A Space Odyssey, director Stanley Kubrick commissioned an original score, only to discard the score and use pre-existing classical music exclusively. The score features Ligeti’s complete Atmosphères and excerpts from Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra; Johann Strauss II’s On the Beautiful Blue Danube; Khachaturian’s Gayane; and Ligeti’s Requiem, Lux aeterna, and Aventures in an electronic manipulation. Silence is also a key component; the Orchestra will remain onstage for the entire screening, highlighting Kubrick’s strategic use of both music and silence in storytelling.
Director / writer Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 influential science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s short story The Sentinel, examines themes of evolution, existentialism, artificial intelligence, and extra-terrestrial life. Nominated for four Academy
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Awards (winning for Best Visual Effects), it is ranked as the American Film Institute’s best science fiction film of all time. This program is presented in association with Warner Bros., Southbank Centre, and the British Film Institute.
The New York Philharmonic inaugurated The Art of the Score in September 2013 with the U.S. Premiere screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The New York Times wrote of that performance: “Kubrick used the pieces to evoke mystery, evolutionary forces and the cosmos itself during extended stretches of the film in which there is no dialogue. So, having the great New York Philharmonic and the excellent Musica Sacra choristers (directed by Kent Tritle) performing this music live made the evening the ultimate way to experience ‘2001.’” The New Yorker commented: “Kubrick’s movie … came to immediate life, as if it were a painting stripped of darkened varnish and rendered contemporary again. It was the music that effected this change.”
Biographies Hugh Brunt, André de Ridder, Michelle Kim, Musica Sacra directed by Kent Tritle, Alec Baldwin, New York Philharmonic
Tickets Single tickets start at $45. (Ticket prices subject to change.)
Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.
For press tickets, call Lanore Carr at the New York Philharmonic at (212) 875-5714, or email her at [email protected].
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Event Listing
New York Philharmonic
The Art of the Score Alec Baldwin, Artistic Advisor
David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center
Wednesday, September 12, 2018, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 13, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Hugh Brunt*, conductor Michelle Kim, violin
Jonny GREENWOOD There Will Be Blood (score performed live to complete film)
New York Philharmonic
The Art of the Score Alec Baldwin, Artistic Advisor
David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center
Friday, September 14, 2018, 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 15, 2018, 8:00 p.m.
André de Ridder, conductor Musica Sacra, chorus Kent Tritle, director
VARIOUS 2001: A Space Odyssey (score performed live to complete film) (includes selections from works by Ligeti, R. Strauss, J. Strauss II, and Khachaturian)
* New York Philharmonic debut
ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
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* * * Citi. Preferred Card of the New York Philharmonic.
* * * Emirates is the Official Airline of the New York Philharmonic.
* * * Programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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