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Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra) (1982) is the first symphony by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939). Premiered May 5, 1982, by the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller at Alice Tully Hall and commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and the National Endowment for the Arts with the support of the Guggenheim Foundation, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1983, making her the first female composer to win the prize.

The symphony is built around a tonal axis on A and uses a technique common to many of Zwilich's compositions where the large scale work is elaborated from the initial material, "the fashioning of a musical idea that contains the 'seeds' of the work to follow," along with continuous variation and, "older...principles, such as melodic and pitch recurrence and clearly defined areas of contrast."

The entire three movements use continuous development of the material of the opening fifteen measures, which begin, "with a 'motto': three statements of a rising minor third, marked accelerando."

1. Allegro
2. Song form
3. Rondo

Discography

• (December 8, 1992) Zwilich: Symphony No. 1, Prologue & Variations, and Celebration for Orchestra. Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, John Nelson, conductor. New World Records: NW336-2.

Sources

1. ^ Pendle, Karin (1997). American Women Composers, p.46. ISBN 9789057021459.
2. ^ Briscoe, James R., ed. (1987). Historical Anthology of Music by Women, Volume 1, p.375. ISBN 9780253212962.
3. ^ Briscoe, James R. (2004). New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, Volume 1, p.470. ISBN 9780253216830.
4. ^ "Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra)", Schirmer.com.

External links

• (June 1, 2000). "Has Winning the Pulitzer Made a Difference? Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Music", NewMusicBox.org.

v t e Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Symphony	Chamber Symphony (1979) Symphony No. 1 (1982) Symphony No. 2 (1985) Symphony No. 3 (1992) Symphony No. 4 (1999) Symphony No. 5 (2008)
Concertos	Piano Concerto (1986) Oboe Concerto (1990) Double Concerto (1991) Bassoon Concerto (1992) American Concerto (1994) Peanuts Gallery (1996) Violin Concerto (1997) Millennium Fantasy (2000) Clarinet Concerto (2002) Cello Concerto (2020)
Other orchestral	Concerto Grosso (1985) Symbolon (1988)
Category

v t e Pulitzer Prize for Music (1981–1990)
n.a. ('81) Roger Sessions ('82): Concerto for Orchestra Ellen Taaffe Zwilich ('83): Symphony No. 1 Bernard Rands ('84): Canti del Sole Stephen Albert ('85): Symphony No. 1 George Perle ('86): Wind Quintet No. 4 John Harbison ('87): The Flight into Egypt William Bolcom ('88): Twelve New Etudes for Piano Roger Reynolds ('89): Whispers Out of Time Mel Powell ('90): Duplicates: A Concerto
Complete list (1943–1950) (1951–1960) (1961–1970) (1971–1980) (1981–1990) (1991–2000) (2001–2010) (2011–2020) (Citations)

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• Symphonies by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
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