Symphony No. 1: "Les Carnavalesques", in five movements for small orchestra (2005)
Winner of the 2008 John Kenneth Cole Composition Prize, Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra
Premiere: November 2005, Tacoma WA

I. Le spectacle d'overture

II. Les cris et les chuchutements de la foule

III. La palais de glace

IV. La carnaval de la nuit

V. Le spectacle de clôture

Live recording, November 19 2005
Schneebeck Concert Hall, Tacoma WA
Scott J. Ordway, conductor

Note

Les Carnavalesques, a symphony in five movements for small orchestra, was inspired by the work of the literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin. He addressed the way in which the regular discourses of society are interrupted by periods of festival and celebration, be they public and organized or private and fleeting, and how these periods reveal a more truthful version of human nature. As he described it, “carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change, and renewal.” There is something elemental about the carnival that is otherwise buried by the complexities of civilization, but something that should not be forgotten or ignored. This seemed, to me, a wonderful abstract concept upon which to base a piece of music. The result is a work that is broad and celebratory — one rich with complexity and discord, but that is ultimately redemptive.

The five movements of the symphony each represent a moment from this carnival, literal or figurative. The first establishes the general mood and language of the piece, a bright introduction to the festival. The second, “The Shouts and Whispers of the Crowd” presents the excitement and confusion of the revelers. The third movement, “The Palace of Ice” depicts a broad hall, frozen to display ice sculptures. The stillness of this movement is the emotional heart of the symphony; the appearance, for this movement only, of two solo vocalists adds to the haunting, weightless texture. A rising melodic line winds throughout the movement, reaching higher and higher until it is finally fulfilled, at the very end, by a solo violin. The fourth movement follows the carnival through the night. The nocturnal atmosphere is twice interrupted, first by a raucous parade that tramps through the scene, and again by the distant strains of an elegant waltz that will, inevitably, be corrupted by the bizarre effect of the Carnavalesque mode. Finally, the fifth movement builds through a series of climaxes before exploding in a joyful apotheosis.