Symphony No. 3 (Harris)

Harris wrote this symphony on a commission from Hans Kindler but he gave it to Serge Koussevitzky instead.{{r|Stehman1984_639}} It has been described as "the quintessential American symphony",{{r|Canarina1993}} and "the most widely performed and recorded of all American symphonies".{{sfn|Butterworth|1998|p=84}}

The material that eventually became the opening of the Third Symphony was initially meant to be a violin concerto for Jascha Heifetz, but the commission fell through and Harris decided to turn it into a symphony. The point where the strings enter on middle C was to have been the solo violin's entrance.{{r|ClarkSchuman1986_334}}

The score was published by G. Schirmer in 1940.

The music is scored for 3 flutes (the third doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 soprano clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 euphonium, 1 tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, vibraphone and strings.

According to Harris, the symphony is in five connected sections: Tragic, Lyrical, Pastoral, Fugue Dramatic, Dramatic Tragic. "After the first performance, Harris made two cuts" to the Pastoral section, specifically, measures 274–301 and 308–16.{{sfn|Butterworth|1998|p=86}} Originally the symphony did not end as in the published version, but stopped rather abruptly. At Koussevitzky's suggestion, Harris added a coda.{{r|ClarkSchuman1986_334}}

In 1939, Koussevitzky conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the premiere. While public reaction was initially chilly, the symphony has become more popular. This work uses a number of techniques that have become common in subsequent American classical music works, including "massive but spacious textures; a new emphasis on vital, syncopated rhythms... and a rich harmonic palette".{{r|Haskins2000_2038}}

Koussevitzky made the world-premiere recording in a performance which Harris "regarded ... as the finest interpretation".{{sfn|Butterworth|1998|p=84}}

Together with "the Second Symphony by Howard Hanson, [and] the Third by Robert Ward ... the Third of Roy Harris" is one of those American symphonies which "are within the capabilities of our [American] community orchestras".{{r|VanHorn1979_74}}

• {{cite book |last=Butterworth |first=Neil |date=1998 |title=The American Symphony |location=Aldershot |publisher=Ashgate}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite book |last=Stehman |first=Dan |date=1984 |title=Roy Harris: An American Musical Pioneer |location=Boston |publisher=Twayne Publishers |pages=63–9}}

{{cite book |last=Canarina |first=John |date=1993 |chapter=The American Symphony |editor=Robert Layton |title=A Guide to the Symphony |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=408–10}}

{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=John W. |last2=Schuman |first2=William |date=Autumn 1986 |title=William Schuman on His Symphonies: An Interview |journal=American Music |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=328–336|doi=10.2307/3051614 |jstor=3051614 }} p. 334.

{{cite book |last=Haskins |first=Rob |date=2000 |chapter=Orchestral and Chamber Music in the Twentieth Century |editor=Ellen Koskoff |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music |others=Vol. 3 - The United States and Canada |publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis) |pages=203–208 |chapter-url=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Creference_article%7C1000225812 }}
[https://books.google.com/books?id=Eh03DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT317 Reprint 2017]. {{ISBN|9781351544146}}.

{{cite book |last=Van Horn |first=James |date=1979 |title=The Community Orchestra: A Handbook for Conductors, Managers and Boards |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=74 |isbn=9780313205620}}

}}

• {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Kennan|1952}}|reference=Kennan, Kent Wheeler. The Technique of Orchestration. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1952.}}

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Harris 3

Category:1939 compositions