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        • Missy Mazzoli

        • Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) (2013)

        • G Schirmer Inc (World)

        Revised 2021. Harmonicas are pitched in A and C (Bassoons), A (Horns), C (Trumpets), and F (Trombones). Harmonica notation is approximate; players should simply blow into the instrument unless otherwise indicated, taking care to play in approximately the same octave as the other harmonica players. Recorded electronics: locate the speaker(s) behind the percussion at the back of the stage. Playback should be loud enough to reach the back of the hall yet balance with the orchestra.

        • 2.2.2.2(2hca)/2(2hca).2(2hca).2(2hca).1/2perc/pf(syn)/recording/str
        • 9 min
          • 1st April 2025, Teatro Valli, Reggio Emilia, Italy
          • 2nd April 2025, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany
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        Programme Note

        Composer note
        Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) is music in the shape of a solar system, a collection of rococo loops that twist around each other within a larger orbit. The word “sinfonia” refers to baroque works for chamber orchestra but also to the old Italian term for a hurdy-gurdy, a medieval stringed instrument with constant, wheezing drones that are cranked out under melodies played on an attached keyboard. It’s a piece that churns and roils, that inches close to the listener only to leap away at breakneck speed, in the process transforming the ensemble turns into a makeshift hurdy-gurdy, flung recklessly into space. Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

        There is a pre-recorded track, provided with the score and parts, that is played at the very end of the piece, as indicated in the score. The track should come through a speaker placed within the percussion setup, so that the sound seems as if it is emanating from the percussionist’s location onstage. This speaker can be a simple medium to large PA speaker or amp, depending on the size of the house. If it is impossible to set up a speaker within the percussion setup, or near the percussionist’s location onstage, the track can be played through the house speakers. 
         
        The track is usually triggered by the percussionist who can play it through a laptop (AppleMusic, iTunes) connected to the speakers.  (The player needs only to hit “play” once  - no additional triggering is required.) If the track is played through the house speakers, a sound engineer in the hall will have to trigger it after a signal from the conductor.
         
        Levels of the track should be checked in rehearsal - the track should play at a low volume slightly under the volume level of the orchestra. 

        — Missy Mazzoli

        Media

        BBC Proms (clip)
        Stony Brook Symphony

        Scores

        Features

        • Explore music by women for dance
          • Explore music by women for dance
          • In response to requests from choreographers, dance and ballet companies we invite you to explore music in multiple styles and genres by women at the height of their composing game. From Missy Mazzoli, Maja Ratkje and Helen Grime, to Joan Tower, Kaija Saariaho, Gloria Coates and the new generation Hania Rani and Lisa Morgenstern, we are sure there’s something for everyone in this first in a series of specially curated features.
        • Anton Bruckner Bicentenary in 2024
          • Anton Bruckner Bicentenary in 2024
          • Anton Bruckner celebrates his 200th birthday in 2024. The Austrian composer, organist and teacher is one of the great mavericks of the music world. We have highlighted works that can be combined well with Bruckner's symphonies or with his vocal works for your next concert programmes.

        Reviews

        …we now have a fuller picture of Missy Mazzoli the orchestral composer in the album Dark with Excessive Bright, highlighting four harmonically fresh, dramatically charged works.

        In the Sinfonia "For Orbiting Spheres," she deploys harmonicas in three different keys to achieve the effect she describes as "a hurdy-gurdy flung recklessly into space"…

        Tom Huizenga, NPR: The 10 Best Classical Albums of 2023
        13th December 2023

        Mazzoli immerses the listener in all sorts of excellent sounds in her Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), including a hurdy gurdy 'flung in to space'...

        Laurence Vittes, Gramophone
        June 2023

        In between came Mazzoli’s gorgeous orchestral piece. Nézet-Séguin, speaking to the audience, connected it to the Met via their commission of a new opera from the composer. Already played earlier this season by the New York Philharmonic, it was extremely gratifying to witness this fine contemporary work enter the larger orchestral repertoire. Repeat performances are a necessity for this, but the music has to demand repent performances, and Sinfonia does. What’s more, what conductor and musicians did with this piece was vastly different then the Philharmonic’s performance, a testament to the quality and variety of Mazzoli’s ideas and craft.

        The interpretation focussed on the gestures and transitions between the moments of shimmering harmony on which the piece catches its breath. This was interesting to begin with, but one worried that it might end up overly fussy, missing the overall shape. Yet in the end what the musicians had discovered in these details was the heart of the piece, Mazzoli’s marvelous harmonies sliding aside to reveal moments of aesthetic and emotional fascination. Beautiful to begin with, the performance brought out profound feelings and mysteries from the music one had not yet heard earlier.

        George Grella, New York Classical Review
        16th June 2022

        Discography

        Atmospheriques Vol. 1

        Atmospheriques Vol. 1
        • Label
          Sono Luminus
        • Catalogue Number
          DSL92267
        • Conductor
          Daniel Bjarnason
        • Ensemble
          Iceland Symphony Orchestra
        • Released
          28th April 2023

        Missy Mazzoli: Dark with Excessive Bright

        Missy Mazzoli: Dark with Excessive Bright
        • Label
          BIS
        • Catalogue Number
          BIS2572
        • Conductor
          James Gaffigan / Tim Weiss
        • Ensemble
          Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Arctic Philharmonic
        • Soloist
          Peter Herresthal, violin
        • Released
          7th April 2023

        More Info