turns. The central slow movement, however, is a conundrum: in Bach’s manuscript, the Adagio consists in its entirety of two unadorned chords. Some musicologists contend that he intended another slow movement to be inserted here, while others interpret the freestanding chords as an invitation to some sort of collective improvisation. In a similar spirit of free-wheeling creativity, the Knights have chosen to interpolate their take on Paul Simon’s wistfully affecting American Tune, itself based on a plaintive chorale from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
— Harry Haskell
ANNA CLYNE (b. 1980) Prince of Clouds About the Composer London-born Anna Clyne is a Grammy-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “fearless” by NPR, Clyne’s work often includes collaborations with cutting-edge choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians. In October 2020, AVIE Records released Mythologies, a portrait album featuring Clyne’s works recorded live by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Several upcoming projects explore Clyne’s fascination with visual arts, including Color Field for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko; Between Caramoor
the Rooms, a film with choreographer Kim Brandstrup and LA Opera, as well as Woman Holding a Balance, a film collaboration with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and artist Jyll Bradley (whom Clyne also teamed up with for the film Pardes, commissioned by the Scottish Ensemble). Clyne composed a trilogy of Beethoven-inspired works, which premiered in 2020 for Beethoven’s 250th anniversary: Stride for string orchestra, inspired by Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique, premiered by the Australian Composers Orchestra; Breathing Statues, premiered by the Calidore String Quartet; and Shorthand for solo cello and string quintet, premiered by The Knights in 2020 at Caramoor. Clyne is currently the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Associate Composer through the 2021-2022 season and a mentor composer for Orchestra of St Luke’s DeGaetano Composer Institute. Clyne’s music is represented on the AVIE Records, Cantaloupe Music, Cedille, MajorWho Media, New Amsterdam, Resound, Tzadik, and VIA labels. Both Prince of Clouds and Night Ferry were nominated for 2015 GRAMMY Awards. Her music is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes. boosey.com/clyne About the Work When writing Prince of Clouds I was contemplating the presence of musical lineage — a family-tree of sorts that passes from generation to generation. This transfer of knowledge and inspiration between generations is a beautiful gift. Composed specifically
