Lera Auerbach was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on October 21, 1973. The first performance of Icarus took place in Verbier, Switzerland, on July 18, 2011, with Charles Dutoit conducting the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Icarus is scored for piccolo, three flutes, alto flute, three oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, bells, crystal glasses (amplified), glockenspiel, vibrator, theremin (ad lib.), two harps, celesta, piano, and strings. Approximate performance time is twelve minutes.

Born and raised in Soviet Russia, Lera Auerbach defected in 1991, while in the midst of a concert tour of the United States. Auerbach subsequently received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. Auerbach has distinguished herself internationally as a pianist, composer, and author.

The Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra commissioned Lera Auerbach’s orchestral work, Icarus. The premiere took place at the Verbier Festival on July 18, 2011, with Charles Dutoit conducting the Verbier Festival Orchestra. In her program notes for Icarus, Auerbach discusses her upbringing in Soviet Russia: “as a child, I lived in ancient Greece…The world outside made much more sense through the perspective of the ancient Greek myths, where it was quite common for a power-protective god to devour all his children.” Auerbach was fascinated by the myth of Daedalus and Icarus:

What makes this myth so touching is Icarus’s impatience of the heart, his wish to reach the unreachable, the intensity of the ecstatic brevity of his flight and inevitability of his fall. If Icarus were to fly safely—there would be no myth. His tragic death is beautiful. It also poses a question—from Daedalus’ point of view—how can one distinguish success from failure? His greatest invention, the wings which allowed a man to fly, was also his greatest failure as they caused the death of his son. Daedalus was brilliant, his wings were perfect, but he was also a blind father who did not truly understand his child. If he did, he would realize that the road to freedom leads to its ultimate form—death, which Icarus, with the uncompromising daring of youth, achieves. The desire for freedom, taken to its extreme, receives its absolute form—a closed circle in which success means failure and freedom means death.

Lera Auerbach assigned the title Icarus after completing the orchestral work. The composer notes: “All my music is abstract, but by giving evocative titles I invite the listener to feel free to imagine, to access his own memories, associations. Icarus is what came to my mind, listening to this work at that time. Each time I hear the piece—it is different.” Auerbach invites us to experience our own response to the work: “What is important to me is that it connects to you, the listener, in the most individual and direct way, that this music disturbs you, moves you, soars with you, stays with you.”

Program notes by Ken Meltzer