Symphony No. 15 (Glass)

In 2022, Glass was commissioned to compose the symphony to honor the life of President Abraham Lincoln and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts.^[5] During the composing of the piece, while Glass mainly drew from the "Lyceum Address," he also took inspiration from Lincoln's later speeches, such as Lincoln's Farewell Address (1861), the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and Lincoln's final address, which had been spoken on April 11th, 1865.^[4][6]

On January 27, 2026, the 188th anniversary of when Lincoln had spoken the "Lyceum Address",^[7][8] Glass publicly announced the cancellation of the symphony's premiere at the Kennedy Center due to his belief that the center's values didn't align with Lincoln's and were therefore in conflict with the piece's message and central meaning.^{[9][10][11][12]} The decision was made a month after the center's board voted to add Donald Trump to the facility's name.^[13][14] It would have made its premiere on June 12 and 13, 2026.^[15][16] Prior to this, the piece's debut had already been delayed and postponed several times from when it was originally scheduled in March, 2022,^[17] due to Glass failing to complete the work by the deadline.^[2]

On March 4, 2026, following the cancelled June premiere at the Kennedy Center, after performing the Tibet House US's 39th annual benefit concert, conductor Robert De Niro, who was supposed to have conducted the piece's premiere, began reciting excerpts from Lincoln's "Lyceum Address" on the stage of Carnegie Hall.^[18]

On February 24, 2026, it was announced that the work's debut was rescheduled; the piece will be premiered by conductor Dennis Russell Davies, solo baritone Zachary James, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, at Carnegie Hall, on Glass's 90th birthday, January 31st, 2027.^[19][20] A subsequent performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was also scheduled and will take place at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on June 4 and 6, 2027, and will be conducted by Jonathan Leshnoff.^[21][22][23] The piece is also scheduled to be premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at Tanglewood, on July 5, 2027, at 2:30 PM, and will be conducted by Karen Kamensek; the performance will celebrate the United States 250th Anniversary and will also include Copland's Lincoln Portrait (1942) and a suite from John Williams's score for the film Lincoln.^[6][24][25]

The piece is approximately 35 minutes long and consists of 8 movements; it is arranged for solo baritone and orchestra.^[25][4] Movement 1 is titled "Lyceum Address, Part 1," and is to be sung by the baritone; Movement 2 is titled "Lyceum Address, Part 2," and is to be spoken by the baritone; and Movement 3 is untitled and left out of the libretto. Movement 4 is titled "Autobiography Part 1" and Movement 5 is titled "Autobiography Part 2." They are both to be spoken and sung and were likely inspired by Lincoln's Autobiographical Sketch from 1864.^[17] Movement 6 is titled "Slavery," Movement 7 is titled "The End of War," and Movement 8 is titled "Farewell Address." All 3 of those movements are to be both spoken and sung by the baritone.^[26]