For Four Orchestras

For Four Orchestras is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton recorded in 1978 and first released on the Arista label a triple LP.[1][2][3] The album features a composition by Braxton written for four separate orchestras recorded in quadraphonic sound which was subsequently rereleased on CD on The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton released by Mosaic Records in 2008.

For Four Orchestras
Studio album by Anthony Braxton
Released	1978
Recorded	May 18 & 19, 1978
Venue	Hall Auditorium Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Genre	Jazz, contemporary classical music
Length	114:30
Label	Arista A3L 8900
Producer	Michael Cuscuna
Anthony Braxton chronology
Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 (1978) For Four Orchestras (1978) Birth and Rebirth (1978)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]

The Allmusic review by Brian Olewnick awarded the album 1½ stars stating "Unfortunately, the results don't live up to expectations. "Composition 82" is written in an extremely dry academic style with little differentiation of its course. It is quite conceivable that a performance by a more polished orchestra or, better yet, one made up of creative improvisers would be a substantial improvement. And one must keep in mind that the piece is designed to place the audience in a central position, surrounded by the orchestras, and thus able to hear musical ideas and fragments tossed back and forth from one group to another. Still, the musical material itself sounds routinely dreary and uninspired, as if Braxton was declaring that he too could write music as sterile and vapid as his European contemporaries. One might more charitably, however, write this effort off as an interesting experiment that failed; ideas appear herein that would bear far more beautiful fruit in later works".[4] Reviewing the rereleased recordings for All About Jazz Clifford Allen observed "The work moves in cycles based around single chords, and though certainly a lot busier than Morton Feldman's later orchestral works, there is an affinity for instrumental flurries presenting themselves in relation to a steady and central pulse. Furthermore, though the number of musicians participating, one never gets the sense of an overbearing sonic weight. Rather, each orchestra operates as a separate but interactive living organism, conducted and arranged in specific relation to the others. ... Braxton's Four Orchestras expand a color field without pushing those colors too far out of the canvas' edges".[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Anthony Braxton.

1. "308M-64 / 30 / C4DM(R)- Z (For Four Orchestras) [Composition 82]" - 114:

Personnel

Instrument	Orchestra I	Orchestra II	Orchestra III	Orchestra IV
conductor	Kenneth Moore	Gene Young	Robert Baustian	Murray Gross
violin I	Francine Swartzentruber Shelley Fowle Lilyn Graves Lorraine Adel Robert Scarrow	Barry Sargent Zabeth Oechlin Edward Shlasko Steven Schuch Audrey Hale	Karin von Gierke Stanislav Branovicki Susan Demetris Monique Reid Judith Bixler	Peter Jaffe Diane Cooper David Wilson Pamela Stuckey Mary Bolling
violin II	Marriane Smith Marcus Woo Amorie Robinson Jennifer Steiner Kathy Blackwell	Lori Fay Andra Marx Alison Feuerwerker Ellen Ziontz Lauri Gutman	Sally Becker Elizabeth Welch Susan Brenneis Julie Badger Jane Moon	Shannon Simonson Lynda Mapes Margaret Morgan Johnathan Dunn Jennifer Doctor
viola	Naomi Barlow James Thomas Sarah Bloom Rachel Yurman	Amy Leventhal Jeffery Durachta Kathleen Elliott Helen McDermott	Nanci Severance David Rogers Dee Ortel Beth Thorne	Norin Saxe Theodore Chemey Alex Guroff Igor Polisitsky
cello	Steven Harrison Elizabeth Warren Suzanne Wijsman Elizabeth Knowles	Tom Rosenberg Steven Drake Dawn Wilder Sarah Binford	Carol Elliott Aaron Henderson Matthew Wexler Michele McTeague	Kathy Kelly Daniel Kazez Carole Stipleman Steven Wise
bass	Mark Shapire Suzanne Tarshis Leon Dorsey	Michael Talbert Robert Adair Mikkel Jordan	Jeffrey Hill Matthew McCauley Jeffrey Soule	Arthur Kell David Seckinger Daniel Savage
flute and piccolo	Celeste Johnson	Leonard Garrison	Betsy Adler	Virginia Elliott
alto flute	Joel Karr	Wendy Tarnoff	Adam Kuenzel	Carol Goodwillow
clarinet	Michael Zakim	David Hostetler	Bela Schwartz	James Colbert
clarinet and E♭clarinet	John Guest	Marty Rossip	David Bell	Marta Schworm
bass clarinet	Mark Gallagher	Cynthia Douglass	David Ballon	Carol Robinson
oboe	Pamela Hill	Carolyn Hove	James Hois	Michael Harrison
English horn	Cameron McClusky	Giselle Lautenbach	Bernard Gabis	Claudia Patton
bassoon	Allen Smith	Ann Kosanovic	Deanna Kory	Mark Gross
trumpet	John Bourque David Driesen	Alan Campbell Thomas Gotwals	Dave Rinaldi Chris Kerrebrock	James Kirchenbauer William Camp
trombone	Robert Asmussen Richard Ruotolo Mark Kaiser	David Fogg Ann Mondragon David Stocklosa	Bradley Cornell Kadie Nichols Mark Adams	Brian Campbell Eileen Jones Erik Johnson
tuba	Barry Jenson	Brian Bailey	Steven Box	John Lomonaco
harp	Cynthia Mowery	Naomi Markus	Nancy Lendrim	Susan Kelly
percussion	John Gardner Andrew Collier Stephen Pascher	David Wiles John Kennedy Philip Seeman	Galen Work Gregg Linde Victor Thomas	Andre Whatley Charles Wood Derek Davidson

References

1. Anthony Braxton discography accessed March 17, 2015
2. Filippo, R., Enciclopedia del Jazz: Anthony Braxton accessed November 3, 2016
3. Anthony Braxton Project: 1971-1979 Chronology accessed November 7, 2016
4. Olewnick, Brian. For Four Orchestras – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
5. Allen, C., Anthony Braxton: The Complete Arista Recordings - Review, All About Jazz, January 19, 2009