:Peanuts Gallery
{{Short description|1997 piano concerto by Ellen Zwilich}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name = Peanuts Gallery
| type = Piano concerto
| composer = Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
| image =
| image_upright =
| caption =
| key =
| dedication = Charles M. Schulz
| catalogue =
| based_on = Peanuts characters
| movements = 6
| composed =
| premiere_date = {{start date|1997|03|22}}
| premiere_location = Carnegie Hall
| premiere_conductor =
| premiere_performers = {{plainlist|
- Albert Kim
- Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
}}
| published =
}}
Peanuts Gallery is a piano concerto by the American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, inspired by the characters of the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was a friend of Zwilich. It was commissioned for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra by the Carnegie Hall Corporation, and first performed by the pianist Albert Kim and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on March 22, 1997.{{cite web |title='Peanuts' for Orchestra |work=The New York Times |date=March 22, 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/22/arts/peanuts-for-orchestra.html |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
Zwilich dedicated the piece to Schulz, "in hopes that it will give him a small measure of the pleasure that his Peanuts characters have given all of us."{{Cite web |last=Zwilich |first=Ellen Taaffe |author-link=Ellen Taaffe Zwilich |year=1996 |title=Peanuts® Gallery |publisher=Theodore Presser Company |url=https://www.presser.com/116-40552-peanuts-c2-ae-gallery.html |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
Background
Schulz first learned of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich through a profile of her on The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in July 1990. In a Peanuts strip later that year, Peppermint Patty and Marcie attend a concert featuring a flute concerto which Marcie tells Patty is by Ellen Zwilich, who "happens to be a woman." Zwilich contacted Schulz to thank him and the two became friends. Thus, when Carnegie Hall asked Zwilich to write a piece of children's music, she proposed to Schulz that she would compose a work based on Peanuts characters; Schulz enthusiastically agreed.{{cite web |last=Maes |first=Nancy |title=Her Music's for the 'Peanuts Gallery' |work=Chicago Tribune |date=April 30, 1999 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-04-30-9904300133-story.html |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
On March 16, 1997, six days before the world premiere, Schulz once again referenced Zwilich in a Peanuts comic celebrating the new composition. In that comic, Schroeder tells Lucy about the new composition, saying "we're all in it" and naming each of the movements; looking at a copy of the score, Lucy simply responds, "My part should be longer."{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Smith (journalist) |title=Ode to Composer Is Played in 'Peanuts' |work=Sun-Sentinel |date=March 16, 1997 |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1997-03-16-9703140480-story.html |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
The creation of Peanuts Gallery was later documented in a PBS special of the same name, featuring rare interviews with Charles M. Schulz, his wife Jean Schulz, and the composer.{{cite web |title='Peanuts'-Inspired Masterwork by Composer Ellen Zwilich Leaps from Concert Halls to TV |publisher=Florida State University |date=September 13, 2006 |url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/peanuts-inspired-masterwork-by-composer-ellen-zwilich-leaps-from-concert-halls-to-tv |access-date=August 25, 2020}}{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Lawrence A. |title=At 70 (no, really), Ellen Taaffe Zwilich remains as energetic and youthful as her music |work=South Florida Classical Review |date=April 23, 2009 |url=https://southfloridaclassicalreview.com/2009/04/at-70-no-really-ellen-taaffe-zwilich-remains-as-energetic-and-youthful-as-her-music/ |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
Structure
The concerto lasts about 13 minutes and is scored for flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, percussion, strings, and solo piano. Each movement is inspired by a Peanuts character:
- Schroeder's Beethoven Fantasy
- Lullaby for Linus
- Snoopy Does the Samba
- Charlie Brown's Lament
- Lucy Freaks Out
- Peppermint Patty and Marcie Lead the Parade
Recording
A recording of Peanuts Gallery, performed by Jeffrey Biegel and the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Alexander Jiménez, was released on album together with Zwilich's Images and Millennium Fantasy through Naxos Records in September 2010.{{cite web |last=Hinson |first=Mark |title=Zwilich ready to dance with world premier of 'Celestial' |work=Tallahassee Democrat |date=May 4, 2017 |url=https://www.tallahassee.com/story/entertainment/2017/05/04/zwilich-ready-dance-world-premier-celestial/101292108/ |access-date=August 25, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Ellen Taaffe Zwilich}}
{{Peanuts}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Concertos by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich