Music, School of
Date of this Version
January 2005
Abstract
For most composers of my generation, contemplating the writing of a Chamber Symphony must inevitably respond to the presence of Schoenberg’s monumental Chamber Symphony op.9., written in 1906. Like this seminal work of early 20th century counterpoint, my work was designed for solo winds and strings (10 instead of Schoenberg's 15), but, unlike the Schoenberg which is one multi-sectional movement, this Chamber Symphony is divided into four separate movements. The music for the outer movement share similar gestures: ostinato driven, almost march-like passages, alternating with contrasting more lyrical sections, employing full ensemble writing (perhaps in their rhythm and timbre suggestive of Shostakovich or Prokovieff). The second movement is a lament described by predominantly string sonorities. The brief “Scherzo Phantasmagoria”, features aphoristic soloistic episodes - enigmatic snapshots as flashes of color and rhythm, punctuated by static string chords.