Philip Glass's 'Lincoln' symphony premieres at Tanglewood for America's 250th

On 5 July 2026, the day after the 250th anniversary of American independence, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of Philip Glass's Symphony No. 15, subtitled Lincoln, at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Karen Kamensek, a conductor who has worked with Glass for about 30 years, led the performance, and the baritone Zachary James both sang and spoke the role of Lincoln. The work had originally been scheduled to open at the Kennedy Center in Washington in June, but Glass withdrew it there in January.

The symphony is in eight movements, and its texts come entirely from Lincoln's speeches and letters. In a programme note quoted by NPR, Glass described its subject as Lincoln's legacy of holding the country together at a time when it was tearing itself apart. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas noted that the piece ends not with a grand finale but with long, quiet, sustained chords. Kamensek said that conveying the words matters more than the melodies, and James said speaking much of the text let him show a Lincoln who was unusually open and vulnerable for his era. The concert also featured John Williams's music from Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln and Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait. Further premieres were scheduled at the Cabrillo Festival in California and in Virginia in 2026, followed by Carnegie Hall, London's Southbank Centre, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony in 2027.

Glass, born in Baltimore in 1937 to a family of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, is one of the most widely performed living composers and a founding figure of minimalism. His operas Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten and his film scores for The Hours and Kundun reached audiences far beyond the concert hall. Lincoln has appeared in his earlier stage works too, including The Civil Wars and Appomattox. The new symphony opens a season leading up to his 90th birthday on 31 January 2027, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of Einstein on the Beach.