{"id":65075,"date":"2012-09-06T08:22:26","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T12:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=65075"},"modified":"2012-09-10T16:06:53","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T20:06:53","slug":"music-professors-new-composition-inspired-by-ocean-liner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/09\/music-professors-new-composition-inspired-by-ocean-liner\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Professor’s New Composition Inspired by Ocean Liner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Composer<\/a>
Composer Kenneth Fuchs listens to the London Symphony Orchestra record Concerto Grosso at the Abbey Road Studios in London. (Photo courtesy of Kenneth Fuchs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a boy growing up around New York City, Kenneth Fuchs would visit the piers along the Hudson River to see the ocean liners docked in New York Harbor. Among those ships was the S.S. United States, the flagship of America that in 1952 set the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, winning the prize of the Blue Riband.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point you could walk up to the sea wall and the prow [of the ship] would literally be right in front of you, 50 feet away,\u201d says Fuchs, now a professor of music composition in UConn’s School of Fine Arts. \u201cIt was unforgettable. I always had a special fondness for the S.S. United States. It\u2019s our flagship, and its place in history always fascinated me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SS<\/a>
The S.S. United States off St. Thomas, in 1966. (Courtesy of Nick Landiak and the S.S. United States Conservancy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two years ago, Fuchs decided to work on a composition paying tribute to the ship, and earlier this year he recorded \u201cAtlantic Riband\u201d \u2013 which he describes as his \u201ctone poem\u201d to the S.S. United States \u2013 with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of his Juilliard classmate and longtime friend, JoAnn Falletta. Falletta, one of the world\u2019s most celebrated conductors, is music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, which is located in Hampton Roads near the shipbuilding region that built the S.S. United States.<\/p>\n

On Friday night, Sept. 7, \u201cAtlantic Riband\u201d will have its American debut at the Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. The special concert is being promoted by the S.S. United States Conservancy, an organization created to restore the ocean liner and transform it into a mixed-use development and museum honoring American design and discovery. The organization is led by Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of Williams Francis Gibbs, the noted naval architect who was the major influence behind the creation of naval cargo ships during World War II and who also designed the S.S. United States. Falletta will conduct the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for the performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cKen reached out to tell us of his work,\u201d Gibbs says. \u201cIt was just so fortuitous. It was a perfect example to us of how this ship continues to inspire us \u2013 whether in the arts, in design, or as symbolic of postwar American pride, patriotism, and technological innovation. Ken\u2019s piece perfectly captures the S.S. United States\u2019 enduring mystique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Conductor<\/a>
Conductor JoAnn Falletta greets the London Symphony Orchestra as they prepare to record Atlantic Riband. (Photo courtesy of Kenneth Fuchs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While driving with Falletta to record \u201cAtlantic Riband\u201d at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, Fuchs told her of his personal connection to the S.S. United States and the Conservancy\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe immediately saw the advantage of doing the premiere in Virginia involving [her] orchestra,\u201d Fuchs says. \u201cAs it turns out the Mariners Museum in Newport News has become involved. It\u2019s become a big community effort. This was a natural fit for the Hampton Roads community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falletta says she has watched Fuchs\u2019s composing career begin with writing smaller compositions for chamber ensembles, gradually moving to larger orchestral works.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen him in the last decade or so take on big forces, not only that but with one of the greatest orchestras in the world, the LSO,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s taken a lot of chances on his music, gone in different directions. That\u2019s led him to some new adventures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fuchs says that in thinking about writing his tribute to the ocean liner he wanted to create \u201ca big virtuosic orchestral piece in the form of a tone poem that summons up my feelings about the S.S. United States and the ocean-going enterprise of the mid-20thcentury.\u201d His goal was to capture the sense of speed, power, and grace that a ship exhibits slicing across the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The London Symphony Orchestra’s woodwind section records Atlantic Riband. (Photo courtesy of Kenneth Fuchs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe piece reflects that,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it also, I hope, goes deeper to suggest the feelings of longing, of struggle, and ultimate victory for the tens of millions of immigrants who cross the Atlantic in search of a better life. Imagine what it was like to stand on the deck of a liner sailing under the Statue of Liberty for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAtlantic Riband\u201d (Naxos) is the title track of Fuchs\u2019 latest compact disc of compositions, which also includes \u201cAmerican Rhapsody (Romance for Violin and Orchestra);\u201d \u201cDivinum Mysterium (Concerto for Viola and Orchestra);\u201d \u201cConcerto Grosso (For String Quartet and String Orchestra);\u201d and \u201cDiscover the Wild (Overture for Orchestra).\u201d<\/p>\n

The new recording has been favorably reviewed by the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), which describes Fuchs as \u201ca master of orchestral writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reviewer Anthony Burton writes: \u201cOn Naxos\u2019s third Fuchs recording, everything gets five-star treatment: violinist Michael Ludwig and viola player Paul Silverthorne make the solo parts their own, and the LSO under JoAnn Falletta sounds brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Music<\/a>
Music professor Kenneth Fuchs in the Abbey Road Studios garden in London, holding a score of his composition in honor of the S.S. United States. (Photo courtesy of Kenneth Fuchs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fuchs says that when he is composing for orchestra, he first sketches out musical ideas \u2013 harmonies, melodic ideas, and rhythmic patterns \u2013 and is able to organize them to begin writing the entire score for all the instruments of the orchestra.<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually hear the musical ideas for the orchestra from the beginning, with a semblance of the instruments I want, if not the finished orchestration,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Falletta says the overview that Fuchs is able to see from the inception of his composition is evident in a work such as \u201cAtlantic Riband.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that makes him so successful, is his sense of architecture,\u201d she says. \u201cYou get a sense of rightness. It unfolds in a way that is cohesive. It makes sense listening. I\u2019m not surprised he thinks about it in that way. Part of his magic is how he uses his instruments. He works from the biggest picture inward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The S.S. United States Conservancy purchased the ocean liner, which has been docked in Philadelphia, in February 2011 with the goal of restoring the ship. The Conservancy hopes to establish a world-class museum and educational facilities, combined with a mixed-use commercial and public development with a range of possible revenue-generating uses that could include event space, restaurants, retail offerings, and a boutique hotel. The ocean liner has more than 500,000 square feet of usable interior space. The final destination for the S.S. United States would be a harbor docking in New York City or another urban waterfront setting. The Conservancy has launched a major national campaign at savetheunitedstates.org\/<\/a> to help rescue the restore \u201cAmerica\u2019s Flagship.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the music of Kenneth Fuchs go to: http:\/\/music.uconn.edu\/index.php\/kenneth-fuchs<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about the S.S. United States Conservancy, go to: http:\/\/ ssunitedstatesconservancy.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Composer Ken Fuchs recently recorded a CD with the London Symphony Orchestra of a new work that pays tribute to America’s flagship, the S.S. United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":64834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-65075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 03:59:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65075"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65359,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65075\/revisions\/65359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/64834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65075"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=65075"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=65075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}