The Seven Ages

This article is about orchestral suite. For other uses, see Seven ages.

The Seven Ages is an orchestral suite by John Alden Carpenter. It premiered in New York City under the direction of Artur Rodziński on December 2, 1945 to positive reception.[1] The piece is in seven uninterrupted movements, each lasting roughly two or three minutes,[2] with total runtime just under twenty minutes.[3] It was inspired by the famous soliloquy "All the world's a stage" from William Shakespeare's As You Like It.[4] Each movement is meant to depict one of the ages of man.

It was the composer's third attempt to create a work based on the soliloquy and his last fully original composition, as his later years in composition, from 1935 on, had been focused on the revision and arrangement of other works.[5]

References

1. Mahon, Tim. "Seven Ages, symphonic suite for orchestra". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
2. Pollack, Howard (1995). John Alden Carpenter: A Chicago Composer. University of Illinois Press. p. 376. ISBN 9780252070143. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
3. "Older Recordings of American Music". archive.org. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
4. Tawa, Nicholas (2009). The Great American Symphony: Music, the Depression, and War. Indiana University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0253002877. Retrieved 10 December 2017. The Seven Ages suite.
5. Mahon, Tim. "Seven Ages, symphonic suite for orchestra". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.

• David Ewen, Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.