Boston Symphony Orchestra to Debut Philip Glass' Symphony No. 15 at Tanglewood

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will perform Philip Glass' new Symphony No. 15, Lincoln on Sunday, July 5 at 2:30 p.m. at Tanglewood, capping off the summer music festival's monumental four-day celebration of America's 250th anniversary with a widely anticipated new work by one of the world's most influential composers. Glass' eight-movement symphony will be conducted by Karen Kamensek and features baritone soloist Zachary James, with both artists making their Tanglewood debuts. It is programmed alongside two other works honoring the great American president: Aaron Copland's 1942 Lincoln Portrait with a to-be-announced celebrity narrator and selections from John Williams' score of the 2012 Steven Spielberg film Lincoln. 

Glass' Symphony No. 15 includes excerpts from Lincoln's 1838 Lyceum Address, which the then 28-year-old state legislator delivered to a young men's debating society in Springfield, Illinois. Written amidst a nationwide surge in mob violence and racial lynching, the now-famous speech affirms the role of a democratic American government and warns against internal threats that seek to undermine the rule of law. Later movements of the symphony draw from other speeches and writings by Lincoln, including his 1861 Farewell Address, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, and the final public address he made three days before his assassination in 1865. 

Statement from Philip Glass: "I am very pleased that the Boston Symphony Orchestra will perform Symphony No. 15, Lincoln.

"Tanglewood and the BSO have a deep history with new music and civic engagement. For over a century and a half, the figure of Abraham Lincoln, a person who held the country together at its worst moment, remains at the center of the debate of who we are as Americans. The performance of this new symphony falls into the current discussion about our national identity and values.

"I look forward to hearing the symphony for the first time at Tanglewood, and I am happy that the Boston Symphony along with close collaborators, conductor Karen Kamensek, and soloist Zachary James, will bring this piece to life."

The July 5 Lincoln-inspired program completes a four-day celebration of America 250 at Tanglewood, which kicks off on Thursday, July 2 with conductor Damon Gupton and the Boston Pops performing music by Bernstein and Sondheim. James Taylor returns to Tanglewood with his All-Star Band for performances on Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4, with the Independence Day performance followed by a fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl. A focus on American music and composers continues throughout the summer at Tanglewood, including a performance of Glass' Complete Etudes for Piano by five prominent pianists in Ozawa Hall on Wednesday, July 22, and a series of programs curated by Yo-Yo Ma themed “We the People: Our Shared Past, Present, and Future” (Aug. 4–9).

Having won a wide, multigenerational audience in the opera house, concert hall, dance world, and in film and popular music, Philip Glass is one of the world's most popular and prolific living composers. Commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, Symphony No. 15, Lincoln, is a new eight-movement work spanning approximately 35 minutes with a libretto comprised of speeches and writings from throughout President Abraham Lincoln's life. Grammy Award-winning baritone Zachary James, who originated the role of Abraham Lincoln in the 2013 world premiere of Glass' opera The Perfect American at Teatro Real in Madrid, makes his BSO and Tanglewood debuts with this performance. American conductor Karen Kamensek, regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Glass' work, also makes her BSO and Tanglewood debuts.  

Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait was premiered on May 14, 1942, with Copland himself conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Part of the New York Philharmonic's commissioning effort to create musical portraits of eminent Americans, the work incorporates excerpts from letters and speeches including the Gettysburg Address as well as popular folk songs. The BSO and Pops have performed Lincoln Portrait a combined 74 times in their histories, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performed it at last summer's Tanglewood on Parade with historian Heather Cox Richardson as narrator. 

Steven Spielberg's 2012 biographical historical drama Lincoln, which portrays the president's final efforts to abolish slavery and end the civil war, was both a box office and critical success. Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams composed and conducted the score, which received an Academy Award nomination. While the Boston Pops have frequently performed excerpts from Lincoln in the annual John Williams Film Night and other programs, this will mark the first time that music from the film is performed by the BSO.