SKU: A0.869351

Instrumentation: 3232-4331-timp-2perc-strings.

When I received the invitation from Jonathan Cohler to write a Concerto for Orchestra for the Brockton Symphony, I immediately thought of all the composers who wrote works inspired by Bartok’s seminal work of the same title: Roger Sessions, Elliott Carter, Michael Tippett, Witold Lutoslawski, Joan Tower and, most recently, Jennifer Higdon.

My Concerto for Orchestra, opus 111, is in five movements. It will be heard without pause between movements.

I. Largo … Misterioso!
II. Allegro con moto … Evidence!!!
III. Adagio … Epistrophy!
IV. Andante … In Walked Bud!
V. Presto … Rhythm-a-ning!!!

My initial idea for the Concerto was contrast - contrast between the timbres and colors that the various sections in an orchestra provide. For example, the woodwinds would provide a sharp contrast against the brass; the percussion section against the strings, etc. I also was interested in writing a work where each movement would flow into the next without pause – thus providing another form of contrast, that of tempi and mood change. A third form of contrast would be the different styles and forms of music that I would come up with. And I had a lot of fun conjuring up the many possible scenarios and orchestral tableaux. I actually started with the second movement: the Allegro con moto. I wanted something that had a nice surging quality that the whole orchestra could jump into. When I finished that, I thought perhaps it would be too intense for the opening of the work. I thought, maybe I should begin with something slower, more brooding in nature before the explosive stuff.

I noticed that Carter’s Concerto began with a slow Introduction. It had a title: Misterioso. Being an avid fan of Thelonious Monk, aka Thelonious Sphere Monk, Misterioso brought to mind a Monk composition of the same title. That epiphany gave me the idea of naming each of the five movements after a Monk tune. Monk’s Misterioso is a blues with an insistent theme of 8th note patterns of rising 6ths; which has nothing to do with my first movement. My Misterioso features a solo for the bass clarinet in the midst of a shimmering atmosphere that is punctuated by accents in the bass. They are both mysterious, but divergently opposed in mood and substance. Monk’s Evidence is a tune with jabs and punches, irregularly placed within the measure – not unlike what I did in the second movement. This movement is perhaps the most Monk-ish of all. Monk’s Epistrophy is a tune constructed with a four-note pattern that is angular and twisted. I wrote a solemn brass choir movement that is an epistle in nature, a sermon of sorts. The title of Monk’s In Walked Bud refers, of course, to the amazing pianist Bud Powell. I took the word walk and translated it into an andante. What resulted was a silly, but jolly movement featuring the woodwinds. I wanted to end the work with a fast and furious finale. Inspired by the word rhythm in Monk’s Rhythm-a-ning, I began the last movement with a solo for the percussion section – timpani, tom-toms, bass drum!!! The orchestra eventually joins in the mayhem, breaking into a scherzo-like frenzy. It ends with a big bang!!!

Enjoy!!!

Audio link: https://thomasoboelee.bandcamp.com/album/concerto-for-orchestra-opus-111-2005

SKU: A0.597316

The Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437) was composed by George Frideric Händel, for solo keyboard (harpsichord), between 1703 and 1706. It is also referred to as Suite de pièce Vol. 2 No. 4. It was first published in 1733.

The piece was used in an orchestral arrangement for Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Dutch singer Petra Berger used the Sarabande as the musical setting for her song about Mary, Queen of Scots, Still a Queen (In My End Is My Beginning), from her album Eternal Woman (2001). An orchestral version was also used on the first episode of the 2018 television mini-series of Agatha Christie's A.B.C. Murders, starring John Malkovich as Poirot.

This beautiful arrangement for orchestra brings in its variations, an intercalation of orchestral forces and different climaxes. The first part of the theme starts on the strings accompanied by the continuum. The second part includes the metals and the tympani. In the first variation, the theme is played by a group of strings, within a chamber proposal. In the third variation, the strings give way to the woodwinds, where horns, trombones talk to the woodwinds. In the fourth variation, the same group of winds remains, but they are accompanied by the ow strings. Finally, in the last variation, the orchestral force appears with brilliance and intensity.