Music for a Forgotten City
2010 | orchestra | Op. 12
duration: 11:30
winner of the 2010 James Highsmith Composition Competition
Program Note
I began writing Music for a Forgotten City in January of 2010. My aim was to compose a piece rich in color and atmosphere but still true to my interest in motivic and formal integrity. Part of the challenge I gave myself was to see how much I could simplify my musical materials. The result is a piece built almost entirely on a single, distinctive seven-note scale. The melodic materials share the same simplicity and unity.
As for the title, I wanted to portray the sense of an ancient or mythical presence awakening from deep below a modern skyline, echoing through the streets and reflecting off the buildings; the timeless nature of a place coming alive, interacting with and informing its own modern incarnation. The piece is indebted to a dear friend and fellow composer, Jeffery Parola, whose music pointed me toward an aesthetic I long had been searching for.
premiered 1 May 2010 by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra
Instrumentation
Piccolo
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
English Horn
2 Clarinets in B-flat
Bass Clarinet
2 Bassoons
Contrabasson
4 Horns in F
3 Trumpets in C
2 Tenor Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion 1: Crotales and Xylophone
Percussion 2: Vibraphone and Suspended Cymbal
Percussion 3: Marimba and Triangle
Harp
Piano
Strings
winner of the 2010 James Highsmith Composition Competition
Program Note
I began writing Music for a Forgotten City in January of 2010. My aim was to compose a piece rich in color and atmosphere but still true to my interest in motivic and formal integrity. Part of the challenge I gave myself was to see how much I could simplify my musical materials. The result is a piece built almost entirely on a single, distinctive seven-note scale. The melodic materials share the same simplicity and unity.
As for the title, I wanted to portray the sense of an ancient or mythical presence awakening from deep below a modern skyline, echoing through the streets and reflecting off the buildings; the timeless nature of a place coming alive, interacting with and informing its own modern incarnation. The piece is indebted to a dear friend and fellow composer, Jeffery Parola, whose music pointed me toward an aesthetic I long had been searching for.
premiered 1 May 2010 by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra
Instrumentation
Piccolo
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
English Horn
2 Clarinets in B-flat
Bass Clarinet
2 Bassoons
Contrabasson
4 Horns in F
3 Trumpets in C
2 Tenor Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion 1: Crotales and Xylophone
Percussion 2: Vibraphone and Suspended Cymbal
Percussion 3: Marimba and Triangle
Harp
Piano
Strings