Marsalis, Wynton: Two in 3 (2008) 16'
for jazz orchestra and symphony orchestra

Scoring
Symphonic orchestra: 3.3(III=corA).3(III=bcl).3-4.3.3.1-perc(4):SD/BD/2susp.cym/hi-hat/tamb/tgl/cowbell-harp-strings; Jazz orchestra: 2asax.2tsax.barsax-4tpt.3trbn-perc:dr set-pft-bass

World Premiere
9/24/2008
Wharton Center, East Lansing, MI
Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra/ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra / Leon Gregorian


Press Quotes  
“…Marsalis’ new extended work, ‘Two in 3,’ clocked in at 15 minutes in its world premiere…by the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The simple charm of the materials and distilled concentration of their development was one of the greatest rewards of the piece – a lyrically swaying jazz waltz that never mortgages its vernacular idiom as it spreads across an orchestral landscape…

“Two in 3” takes its title from a metaphorical pas de deux for lovers in 3-beat waltz time. Marsalis has said that the specific inspiration was the notion that all the tenderness and volatility of a romantic relationship are manifest in the first glance between principals. Saxophones opened the piece with a four-note, stair-step phrase that suggests an eyebrow rising after a sideways glance. Some questioning volleys between reeds and strings coalesced quickly into the full jazz band swinging on top of bass and drums.

Marsalis mostly treated the jazz band as a single entity in a kind of concerto grosso; the band glided into the spotlight, often with an improvising soloist leading the way, and then retreated into a broader texture of strings. The melodies were restless, in transit. Sometimes the static minor-key harmony evoked an adventure; other times richly alerted chords suggested bedroom eyes and satin sheets.

Rhythm and groove are always forthright…There were churchy passages with tambourine slaps, some Latin rhythm and an especially vivacious old-timey ragtime section in which the rhythm shifted between 3- and 4-beat meters and clarinets and violin played a rippling line over punchy orchestra kicks.

There was a perhaps inevitable full-ensemble climax, a dissonant, argumentative crunch. But the close was a surprise: The music expired quietly, the players literally vocalizing a soft “ha” every three beats that sounded like breathing. Postcoital bliss or relief at the end of a troubled affair?...

The Lincoln Center band was unimpeachable, focused and expressive…”

-Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press