for Chamber Orchestra
Scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, harp, percussion and strings
I wrote this piece for the musicians of the U of C Chamber Orchestra upon my departure as their music director in the spring of 2008. Â The piece is in three “scenes”, each of which has a waltz at its core.
The above recording was made in a concert on October 5, 2009 at Indiana University with a so-called “Ad Hoc” orchestra. Below is the original recording I made in a concert on May 17, 2008 in Chicago. I include it because the performances are so different. I won’t harp on the fact that the musical quality at IU is, um, of a higher caliber, but I should point out the fact that the rooms are so totally different. The recording above sounds like it was made in a bath-tub; below, we were in a nice dry space. For some reason, I did the opposite of what you’re supposed to do in such situations — the performance in the wetter hall is a full minute faster than the one in the arid hall.
Here is a discussion of my performance history with this piece. Here is a clip from the IU performance, October 2009: