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Sacred
Symphony
for
orchestra
25 minutes
Excerpt
from I. de Chirico's Dream
Performed
by the
chamber orchestra of the Composers Conference at Wellesley,
Efran
Guigui, conductor.
Excerpt
from
II. Radiant Steps
Reading
session
by the Symphony Orchestra of the Curtis Institute of Music,
Sarah
Hicks, conductor.
My Sacred Symphony
is in many ways a companion piece to my sacred song cycle No Secret
Hidden, which deals with the issue of human sin through the eyes of
three Old Testament prophets. The symphony also confronts
the
idea of humankind’s relationship with his Creator, but this time
focuses
on redemption and salvation. The metaphor through which I tried
to
link the abstract musical material with these eternally significant
topics
is that of the “spiritual journey”. Human beings spend much of
their
lives struggling to make sense of the world, to develop and nurture
some
sort of faith that helps them make sense of life. Christians,
guided
in this journey by the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, gain both
understanding
about and confidence in their faith as they travel through life.
My goal in composing the symphony, then, was to represent various
stages
of a Christian spiritual journey in musico-dramatic terms.
The first movement,
de
Chirico’s Dream, represents the sadness, uncertainty, and
vulnerability
of the human condition in its loneliest moments. The title
refers to the Spanish proto-surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico,
whose
shadowy, slightly skewed work "Mystery and Melancholy of a Street,"
provided
me with an inspirational visual representation of this interior
disquiet.
These are the types of moments that can lead a mortal to thoughts about
the immortal; and it is out of these thoughts that a spiritual journey
may begin.
de
Chirico’s Dream
does
not represent a narrative of a particular journey; rather, it focuses
on
the emotional unsteadiness predicated by the beginning of such a
journey.
Two themes, contrasting in character, evolve slowly in this movement,
with
each becoming intertwined about the other before eventually
disentangling
themselves. The center of the movement is a trumpet recitative
that
initiates this devolution of musical material.
In
contrast, Radiant
Steps is mainly about the joy that comes from a constantly
nourishing
spiritual journey. This movement presents more of a
traditional
narrative, tracking a spiritual journey through various types of joy,
including
child-like devotion, bittersweet melancholy, and spiritual
ecstasy.
The two themes from the first movement form the basis for this
movement,
but this time their integration becomes complete and final. A
full
orchestral recitative ends the symphony, drawing together salient
features
of both themes before a final, transcendent conclusion.
Additional
Information
Sacred
Symphony
(2000-2001)
Duration:
25 minutes
I. de Chirico’s Dream
(15 minutes)
II. Radiant Steps (10 minutes)
Each movement may be performed separately.
Instrumentation:
2 Flutes
Piccolo
2
Oboes (player 2 doubling Harmonica)
English
Horn
2
Bb Clarinets (Player 1 doubling Eb Clarinet)
Bass
Clarinet
2
Bassoons
Contrabassoon
4 Horns
in F
3
Trumpets in B-flat (Player 1 doubling Picc. Tr.)
2
Trombones
Bass
Trombone
Tuba
2 Percussion:
Snare drum, bass drum, Tambourine, Cabasa, Triangle. Ratchet, Crash
Cym.,
3 Sus. Cym (14”, 16”, 18”), Tam-tam, 2 Bongos, 2 High Toms, 2 Low
Toms, Ratchet,
Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone.
Timpani
Harp
Strings
NOTE:
de
Chirico’s Dream exists in two versions. The
originalis
scored for a smaller orchestra than required by Radiant Steps,
as
follows:
Original
Version:
2 Flutes
Piccolo
2
Oboes (Player 2 doubling Harmonica)
English
Horn
2
Bb Clarinets (Player 1 doubling Eb Cl.)
Bass
Clarinet
2
Bassoons
2 Horns
in F
2
Trumpets in Bb
Trombone
2 Percussion:
Snare drum, Bass Drum, Tambourine, Cabasa, Triangle, Crash Cym.,
3 Sus. Cym (14”, 16”, 18”), Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone.
Timpani
Harp
Strings
(minimum 6-6-4-4-2)
Chamber
Ensemble
Version (featured on the recording)
Flute
(doubling Piccolo)
Oboe
Bb
Clarinet (doubling Eb Clarinet and Bass Clarinet)
Bassoon
Horn
in F
Trumpet
in Bb
Piano
2 Percussion:
Cabasa, Vibraphone, 3 Sus. Cym (14”, 16”, 18”), Glockenspiel, Marimba,
Vibraphone,
Triangle ((mounted), Bass Drum, Crotales, Tam-tam, Snare Drum, Medium
Tom,
Xylophone
Strings
(2.2.2.2.1) May be performed with single strings. Contact the composer
for this version.
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