Projects

“there is something touching to the music from ‘The Hours’ that under Harrington’s evocative touch deepens its poignancy and sense of loss. The Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of conductor Mark Shapiro always provide the signature Philip Glass rhythmic pulse so intrinsic tominimalism, which well underpins the violin’s soaring lyricism” ~ Classical Music Sentinel

 

Glass Hour is the new album by Gregory Harrington that comprises the Violin Concerto No.2 “American Four Seasons” of Philip Glass along with the world premiere recording of Harrington’s arrangement and orchestration of “The Hours Suite” for violin and orchestra. Recorded under the nuanced direction of Mark Shapiro and the Janacek Philharmonic, Glass Hour debuted at #3 in the Classical Billboard Charts.

Glass Hour pairs “The Hours Suite” with “The American Four Seasons” and explores the concept of experiencing time from a daily basis (The Hours) to over a seasonal basis (The American Four Seasons). With ‘The American Four Seasons”, as none of the movements are predefined, Maestro Glass  leaves it up to the performer to assign the movements specific seasons and each solo movement then acts as a prelude cadenza.

As noted by Harrington: ‘With “The Hours Suite” I felt that there could be something beautiful in creating a transcription for violin and orchestra that was a throwback to the transcriptions of Heifetz & Milstein and what they created for the violin repertoire. When I heard the score from “The Hours” it emotionally resonated with me. I wanted to keep the harmonic structure of the original score constant throughout so the fun part of the arrangement was being inventive with the violin line and making that homage to those Heifetz & Milstein transcriptions of the past. The aim was to add a melodic line that embellishes the score while being creative in the strings as they provide the driving force for the harmonic structure. In the concerto, as there are the incredible recordings by Kremer and McDuffie already in the catalog, I felt strongly about a little more romanticized reading of the score so wanted to create an alternative to those beautiful interpretations. While it is individual for each performer. I keep coming back to that 2nd Movement as my “Winter” ‘.

For enquiries about Glass Hour and hiring the artist, along with scoring for different ensembles,comprehensive programs and arrangements for full/string orchestra contact info@gregoryharrington.com