Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 1 was commissioned by the University of Miami School of Music Abraham Frost Series. It was begun in the fall of 2000 in Pasadena, California, and completed the following summer at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The work received its premiere performance at the closing concert of Festival Miami on October 25, 2001, by the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Sleeper, conductor.

The work comprises four movements. The first movement is an expression of hope, with vivid aural images in the bells, trumpet fanfares, bright harmonies, and clear textures. In the second movement, the bright fanfares give way to greater lyricism, and childlike optimism yields to introspection.

The third movement, in a dark D minor, represents a crisis of faith, in which the main theme wedges upward and back again, as though it is attempting to dodge some menacing force. The finale is the setting of an original poem, sung by a tenor. Darkness yields to themes of transcendence as the singer discovers an inner light.

I want to hear the sounds of hope --- of big church bells and distant horns, Sounds that wash away the wars and arouse the human heart. A sure harmony gliding over a sea of stillness.

I want to play the sounds of peace -- of sighing winds and rustling leaves, Sounds that silence troubled thoughts and calm the spirit’s raging storms. A song of serenity from high atop an ancient hill.

But my harp is drowned by the voices of children -- Naked, hungry, crying out. Their dreams, windswept, My faith, a time-worn rock, My house of wisdom a spider’s web. I only know that I am longing...

And then ...I catch a glimpse -- An ancient tree ... a soaring bird, Some eternal euphony that dances upon the light. And for one fleeting moment, I know ... I am the sound of hope, the instrument of peace, the song within the Song.

Program Note by Frank Ticheli