Pavanne from Symphonette No. 2 (American)

Born in 1913 in New York City, Morton Gould studied piano and composition from an early age. He took full advantage of the wide variety of music surrounding him, and his many compositions—from symphonies to ballets to orchestral and film scores—reflect the indelible influence of folk, jazz, and popular styles. Gould’s innovative and accessible approach earned him widespread acclaim, including several GRAMMY® Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Music. Vibrant and engaging, the Symphonette No. 2 (American) is an excellent example of Gould’s unique aesthetic. Composed in 1950, the work blends traditional symphonic form with elements of mid-20th-century popular music. While “Symphonette” indicates a piece shorter than the usual symphony, it also carries overtones of mid-century style. As Gould’s biographer Peter W. Goodman writes, “The title ‘symphonette’ was a clever attempt to Americanize and modernize the term ‘sinfonietta,’ linking it with such up-to-the-minute concepts as kitchenette and dinette.” The second movement, Pavanne, recalls the Renaissance courtly dance form, yet Gould’s music is so jazzy that it was recorded by Glenn Miller and Jimmie Lunceford, among others. In a fascinating example of music from the classical realm flowing into the world of jazz, John Coltrane even used the second theme in his 1961 recording, Impressions. As Coltrane said, “It’s a big well that we all dip out of.”