Julia Wolfe

Born: December 18, 1958, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pretty

• Composed: 2023 on commission from the Berlin Philharmonic, Houston Symphony Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
  
• Premiere: June 8, 2023 in Berlin, Germany, with the Berlin Philharmonic.
  
• Instrumentation: 2 flutes (incl. piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, bass drum, drum set, glockenspiel, guiro, high hat, marimba, mounted drum stick, snare drum, suspended cymbals, 3 tom-toms, vibraphone, xylophone, harp, strings 
• May Festival Notable Performances: This is the first May Festival performance of Pretty.
• Duration: approx. 25 minutes

The word “pretty” has had a complicated relationship to women. It implies an attractiveness without any rough edges, without strength or power. And it has served as a measure of worth in strange, limited and destructive ways. It has a less sweet origin from the old English—“cunning, crafty, clever.” As words evolve, it morphed to a much softer sentiment. My Pretty is a raucous celebration—embracing the grit of fiddling, the relentlessness of work rhythms, and inspired by the distortion and reverberation of rock and roll.

—Julia Wolfe