Carnegie Hall announced that the premiere of Wynton Marsalis's Symphony No. 5 (“Liberty”) has been postponed, even as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts named him their 2026-2027 Visionary Artist.
While the concert news dominates the headlines, In Our Time recently revisited the musician's protective stance toward classical canon. Larry Sazzo noted that Wynton Marsalis famously blocked a jazz arrangement of Handel's Messiah because he said, "I don't wanna do this because I don't want to desecrate the Messiah."
The debate over musical purity continues, with Misha Glenny offering a counterpoint to that rigid traditionalism. While acknowledging the Wynton Marsalis position, Glenny argued on In Our Time that there is a "communality between what Handel was trying to do and the tradition of gospel." As the Lincoln Center series approaches in June, observers will be watching to see if his new work reflects this tension between sanctity and reinvention.
