Symphony No. 2

(2005) Is the first piece I returned to when in 2020 I decided to edit my earlier works.

Originally the sources of inspiration came from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which I was studying at the time. The prominence of the Bach Cello Suites, which I had studied much earlier seemed to haunt me, not to mention that I worked with a cellist on a daily basis. As with most of the pieces I have so far edited, the piece got shorter, instruments disappeared, tempos increased, the themes show up in more recognizable ways and across movements, as though they are characters in a play. As in many of my pieces, the final movement brings everything together, sometimes in Ivesian near-cacophony then calming with the work ending with space for the listener to reflect.

There are a number of reasons symphonies have become my favored genre. I grew up playing in orchestras, studied (after getting degrees in composition) conducting, spent a couple of decades conducting (mostly students) in orchestras, sometimes with chorus, sometimes with dancers. And then there is my childhood wish to play all the instruments. So, I’m having fun.

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