June 1, 1988. 

New York, New York. The New York Philharmonic. Zubin Mehta; conductor. 

“Symbolon” is a symphonic work written by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for their tour in the Soviet Union. This piece made its debut on June 1, 1988, at Bolshoi Hall in Leningrad, with Zubin Mehta (the dedicatee) conducting, and it is the first American Symphonic work to be premiered in the Soviet Union. As the Oxford Classical Dictionary describes it, the word Symbolon connects to the idea of an agreement between nations, which relates to the premiere in the sense that the Soviet Union and United States had been in a Cold War for decades. In a review of an American performance of the piece published on December 31, 1988, Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote “its title refers both to ancient ideas of duality and to modern superpower relationships.”

In Zwilich’s own commentary on the piece as it appears in a New York Philharmonic program in 1989, a year after the premiere, she said, “Usually the word symbolon describes a relationship between two parties with a particular connotation of good-will and friendship.” Knowing that the piece would premiere in the Soviet Union, at a time when the Cold War continued on, she was “sure that [her] complex feelings, embracing both hope and sadness about the state of the political world, found their way into this work.” With this in mind, it makes sense why Zwilich knowing the tense relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, would title the piece Symbolon.

Symbolon is a 15 minute piece commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and it is scored for orchestra with a significant stable of percussion instruments, including cymbals, vibraphone, and glockenspiel. Zwilich composed the piece with a lot of push and pull, having different instruments play together sometimes and opposite other times. Symbolically, this could be an example of reaching similar ideas and solidifying a friendship from tense conflict. An example of this push and pull can be seen with the syncopated rhythms starting around 10:17 in the recording by The New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta (and on page 63 of the score) between the bass and cello, but passed to different sections later, until all the voices are rhythmically in unison at 11:46. Syncopation is used by composers to create a pulling feeling and the way Zwilich uses it creates direct rhythmic contrast between sections, creating a sense of conflict. In addition, she often has different instruments move together and opposite each other in this piece. For example, on page 22 of the score, one of the trumpets is moving with a trombone before they split. In the recording we can hear at 2:47 how they move together and then opposite each other with the trumpet playing a run that the trombone responds to. 

Zwilich also demonstrates her expert abilities in creating a unique counterpoint with contrasting voices. At (3:05) in this video of Symbolon, measure 92 in the score, Zwilich introduces a melody in the flute that is accompanied by oboe, which plays a countermelody. Three measures after the introduction of the flute and oboe solos, Zwilich changes the timbre of the section by adding a solo french horn which plays yet another counter melody over the oboe and establishes a different combination of instruments. In measure 106, Zwilich shows us another unique counterpoint; however, instead of using solo instruments, she combines two different instruments to play a countermelody but in unison. This is one of the many examples in Symbolon, as well as her other works where she utilizes the blending of instruments and countermelodies.

Questions for Classroom Discussion

1. Zwilich is known for composing colorful and “palpable” pieces of work and writes with the audience in mind (as she stated in an interview in 2000). The Soviet Union at the time of the premiere was in political disarray. How do you think Zwilich felt at the time when she premiered her piece? Was she hopeful? Fearful?

2. How does the definition of a symbolon as a kind of agreement relate to the music?

3. At 4:50 and 7:55 in the recording there is a repeating solo pattern oscillating between two notes. What is different about this pattern the second time? Does the instrumentation change, and what could that represent? 

4. Based on the piece, do you think Zwilich was hopeful or not about the United States having good relations with the Soviet Union? 

5. Why might Zwilich have chosen such a lush percussion section to compose for? What colors and textures do they add to the piece? (For example, see 6:54 to 7:54 in the recording cited above.) 

Bibliography/Further Reading

Primary Sources

Henahan, Donal. "20th-Century Program by the Philharmonic." New York Times (June 1988). 

Holland, Bernard. "Philharmonic Brings Home a Fiery Work: Review." Late Edition (East Coast) (Dec 1988). 

New York Philharmonic. "Program from NYP Symbolon for Orchestra." Program with Zwilich's commentary. August 1989. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/f5e10f86-8cbc-4959-9461-5e75e3db9c57-0.1/fullview#page/18/mode/2up.

Ramey, Phillip. "Notes on the Program: Symbolon." Program notes. New York Philharmonic (1988). https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/90db24b7-01b6-42e0-877c-a71644f4b77a-0.1/fullview#page/4/mode/2up.

Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe and Mehta Zubin. "Symbolon." Score with handwritten notes by Zubin. 1988. 

Secondary Sources

Kaizer, Laraine. "The Music of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Accessibility and Pervading Balance and Duality." PhD diss., University of Cincinnati (2004). 

Koay, Kheng K. The Kaleidoscope of Women's Sounds in Music of the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.