Music for José Limòn’s “Choreographic Offering”

For Mixed Ensemble (fl, cl, hn, ten, vln, 2 vcl, kbd, cb)
• LEVEL: Advanced/Professional
• DURATION: 25′
• PREMIERE YEAR: 1997
• INSTRUMENTATION: fl, cl, hn, ten, vln, 2 vcl, kbd, cb

Perusal Score

Performance Resources

In 1964, José Limòn selected music from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musikalisches Opfer (“A Musical Offering”) (BWV 1079) for his “A Choreographic Offering”. In 1997, Carla Maxwell†, then artistic director of the Limòn Dance Company, engaged Jon Magnussen to create an arrangement of the music for nine players: Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Horn in F, Trombone, Violin, 2 Violoncelli, Keyboard (harpsichord or fortepiano), and Contrabass. The premiere took place at the Joyce Theater (NYC) in October 1997 under the musical direction of David LaMarche.

Trio Sonata, IV. – Allegro

Fuga canonica in Epidiapente

Canon a 2 [per tonos]

Canon a 2 [cancrizans] (Crab Canon)

Canon a 2 (Querendo invenietis resolution)

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Humanism is back, the Limon Dance Company will remind us during its 50th-anniversary season, which got off on a high note with a superb performance on Tuesday night at the Joyce Theater…

…But it was two Limon works danced to Bach that set the tone of the evening. ”Chaconne,” a 1942 solo that Limon created for himself, is now danced beautifully, albeit in softened style, by a woman, Nina Watt. It was typical in its strict structure filled with feeling.

The same attraction to heightened gesture, inseparable from dance movement as a whole, could be seen in ”A Choreographic Offering.” With a new orchestral arrangement of Bach’s ”Musical Offering” by Jon Magnussen for a chamber ensemble directed by David LaMarche, this 1964 tribute by Limon to his mentor Doris Humphrey was revived in its entirety for the first time since 1969. The 18 dancers included members of the Limon West chamber ensemble, an affiliated group from San Jose, Calif. Filled with quotations from Humphrey’s own works, the choreography is strong on spatial patterns that go beyond a pure-movement design to express a sense of community… –– Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times (October 23, 1997)

Canon a 4 – Adagio (Querendo invenietis resolution)

Trio Sonata, II. – Allegro

more…

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