B26B4EC7-59E2-4837-AFE5-A786DB66ED7A

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IDB26B4EC7-59E2-4837-AFE5-A786DB66ED7A
TitlecodeMP800004
Title NameFalling Man for Baritone and Piano
Marketing CopyFALLING MAN for baritone and orchestra are based on Don DeLillo's 2007 novel about the events, aftermath, and changed lives of 9/11, a book which enthralled Kenneth Fuchs. DeLillo's unflinching description of raw terror and absolute chaos provided a standpoint from which Fuchs could begin to come to terms as a composer with the shocking and world-changing events of that fateful morning. The work is cast in the form of a dramatic scena for baritone voice and orchestra, and the principal melodic and harmonic elements are organized around a falling twelve-tone theme. Recorded by JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra with baritone Roderick Williams at Abbey Road Studio, Naxos CD “Falling Man” 8.559753. "This is a wonderfully recorded disc that should continue to gain Fuchs the notoriety he so deserves." --Steven Bergman, Edge A chamber version for baritone and mixed octet, arranged by David Krane, is also available from the publisher.
InstrumentationBaritone Voice and Piano
Commission
DedicationFor those who fell on September 11, 2001.
Program NotesFalling Man, Don DeLillo’s 2007 novel about the events, aftermath, and changed lives of 9/11, enthralled me.
I was riveted in particular by the dramatic opening prologue, in which the novel’s protagonist stumbles out
of the falling rubble of the World Trade Center. DeLillo’s unflinching description of raw terror and
absolute chaos provided a standpoint from which I could begin to come to terms as a composer with the shocking
and world-changing events of that fateful morning.
Falling Man is cast in the form of a dramatic scena for baritone voice and orchestra. The work’s principal
melodic and harmonic elements are organized around a falling twelve-tone theme, fragments of which emerge at
the outset, first in the orchestra and then with the setting of the first line of text, “This was the world now, a
time and space of falling ash and near night.”
The compositional manipulation of the theme’s twelve individual pitches does not strictly adhere to classic
dodecaphonic procedures. The pitches and their permutations are taken up in various melodic and harmonic
combinations and provide the basis for musical development and transformation over the course of throughcomposed
vocal arias interspersed with orchestral interludes.
Falling Man was composed from August 2008 through June 2010 in Mansfield Center, Connecticut. I am
grateful to Don DeLillo for granting permission for the use of his text and to J. D. McClatchy for his eloquent
adaptation for musical setting.
Title Brand0
Year Composed2011
Copyright Number
Copyright Year
Duration19
Ensemble Size13
Date Created2020-01-10 00:00:00.000000
Date Updated2023-06-25 05:12:00
Inhouse NoteSubito study score - #80602030; Vocal score - #80600320
Bsc Code
Text AuthorText by Don Delillo, Adapted by J.D. McClatchy
Premier Performance Memo
Recording CreditsRecorded by JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra with baritone Roderick Williams at Abbey Road Studio, Naxos CD “Falling Man” 8.559753.
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Awards
Title Category12
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Title Instrument Category TextLow Voice
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Title Sub Category99
Title Instrument Header74
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