Wynton Marsalis
Born: October 18, 1961, New Orleans, Louisiana
Symphony No. 5, Liberty CSO CO-COMMISSION
- Work Composed: 2026
- CSO notable performances: This is the first CSO performance of the Symphony No. 5, Liberty.
Commissioned by the Philadelphia, National, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Berlin and London symphony orchestras and the Chautauqua Institute as part of America’s 250th anniversary observance, this work continues Marsalis’ investigation of the deep familial relationships between Jazz, Classical, Afro-Latin and Blues traditions. He believes in a plural America and in the use of vernacular forms and their practical solutions to technical challenges to further develop an organic (therefore hybrid) national fine art music.
Reflecting on the work, Marsalis writes:
I have always strived to bring cultures and styles together in ways that are natural to their origins and intentions. Under the umbrella of American music, there are endless pathways that connect every tradition. These paths can sometimes be treacherous. The same fake divisions that titillate and separate us also prevent us from understanding each other’s cultural objectives and achievements. Yet, I believe that music offers a painless opportunity for curiosity to counter corruption, and for collaboration to cause collective creativity where there was merely competition and an unquenchable thirst for conquest.
This piece was written during a triumphant period of ascending sectarianism and xenophobia all across this land. Still, Marsalis resisted the temptation to surrender to profound disappointment that is often confused with gravitas.
Writing with democratic ambition at the very time that our country is reclaiming its pride in the irrational but familiar forms of prejudice that have forever cumbered our aspirations, I hoped to transcend negative and apocalyptic conclusions, feeling that this capitulation would affront the very nature of my Crescent City upbringing (in a family of jazz no less). I believe that we divine the life we wish to live through our aspirations for others. And so, my thinking through this music led me to feel an even deeper yearning for the basic love for humanity that cannot be contaminated by the ruthless passions of a misdirected movement or moment, no matter how hurtful.
The result is a work that draws upon the expressive power of both symphony and jazz orchestra to affirm a fundamental truth: though we are many, in life and death, we are truly one. The symphony unfolds in six movements.