Daniel Powers

Archive for the ‘orchestral music’ Category

2.2.2.2. / 4.2.3.1. / T +2 / strings
duration approx. 5 minutes
composed Summer 2005

Overture to the Season was commissioned by the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra as a season opener for the 2005/6 season, marking their 80th year of operation.

 The commission specified a time limit of five minutes, so I kept things simple. There is a slow introduction featuring a horn call, repeated by trumpets. A lively middle section follows, based on a more rhythmic theme first heard in the violins. The theme is repeated, building in volume and momentum. Finally the opening call is heard again, and the Overture comes to an exuberant conclusion.

Overture to the Season is dedicated to David Bowden.

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For solo piccolo and orchestra.
0.2.2.2. / 2.2.0.0. / T 2P / harp / strings
Duration approx 8 minutes.
Composed late 2007.

Concerto Piccolo was written for Kate Prouty, piccoloist with the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, and was premiered in March 2008.

The piccolo is an instrument that rarely gets to display the full range of its qualities. It is almost always used as a brilliant high-register instrument, adding a touch of sparkle and sometimes shrillness to even the fullest orchestral tutti passages. Its more expressive capabilities are almost totally ignored, as is the uniquely pale tone color of its lower register. Given the opportunity to write a work featuring the piccolo as a solo instrument, I decided to make an effort to exploit all its capabilities, beginning with the less familiar ones. Accordingly, the work begins with an extended lyrical passage in the instruments low range. Of course, the brilliant high register is not neglected.

The work is not properly a concerto, being in only one relatively short movement divided into a slow and a fast section. Perhaps a more accurate title would have been Introduction and Allegro, or something like it. But I couldn’t resist the pun inherent in “Concerto Piccolo:” read one way, it implies a concerto for the piccolo, but literally translates to “small concerto.”

The recording below is taken from the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra’s premiere in March 2008, with Kate Prouty as soloist and David Bowden conducting.

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For orchestra.
3(pic).3(Eh).2.Ebcl(bcl).2.cbn / 4.3.3.1. / T 3P / hp / piano / strings
Duration approx 10 minutes.
Composed Summer 2001.

The Starry Messenger was commissioned by the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra as an opener for the 2001 season, which happened to coincide with their 75th anniversary. As a point of interest, the Terre Haute Symphony is the oldest continuously operating orchestra in the state of Indiana, a fact we are rather proud of.

I began the piece with a gesture that had been at the back of my mind for several years; a short, violent explosion of dissonance, which sets into motion a long stream of rapidly flowing pianissimo notes, gradually expanding in pitch range, volume, and textural complexity. I have since wondered if I was subconsciously inspired by the idea of the Big Bang, the creation of the universe in a huge explosion of energy followed by a constant expansion.

It is entirely plausible that I was influenced by the fact that I knew my piece would be sharing the program with Holst’s The Planets, a work I’ve known and loved since I was quite young. Also, since astronomy has always been an interest of mine, it’s easy to understand that inspiration would strike from that direction.

On a purely musical level, the work unfolds as a moto perpetuo, built on a stream of sixteenth notes, broken only during a brief climactic passage near the middle, and at the end as the momentum gradually fades away into the vast infinity of space.

The scientifically literate will recognize The Starry Messenger as the title of one of Galileo’s most important scientific books. Despite the poetic nature of the title, the book itself is rather dry, dealing mainly with Galileo’s improvements to the telescope, and the surprising things he discovered when he trained the new instrument on the heavens, discoveries that paved the way for a completely new understanding of the universe.

My appropriation of Galileo’s title owes itself to an unlikely coincidence. While I was working on the piece, I was also reading a biography of Galileo, which I had received as a Christmas present from my parents. It struck me that The Starry Messenger was far to poetic a title to be used on a seriously scientific work. Something about it, though, seemed to resonate with the orchestral work I was writing, and I decided to borrow it.

In 2006, The Starry Messenger was recorded by the Prague Radio Symphony as part of ERM Media’s series of recordings Masterworks of the New Era. It was released on volume 12 of the series in 2008. The recording below is taken from that release.

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A bit late to report this, but the Concerto Piccolo received its world premiere on Saturday (March 1). Kate Prouty was the wonderful soloist, and the Terre Haute Symphony was conducted by David Bowden.

It seems to have been a success. I was playing in my usual spot in the first viola stand, so I didn’t really hear what the audience heard, but from what I could tell, Kate played beautifully and the orchestra played well. I got a lot of nice compliments from orchestra members and after the concert, many audience members took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed it. At the Concert Comments before the show, David said he expects it to become a repertory item and be played all over the country. Let’s hope he’s right.

This e-mail from Kate just arrived. She said I could post it on my website if I like, and I will next time I update it, but for now, I’ll just put it here.

Hello!
We just did our world premiere of CONCERTO PICCOLO on March 1, at Tilson Hall at Indiana State Univerisity (Terre Haute Symphony), and if I say so myself, it was a fantastic success!

So many audience members commented on how much they liked the melodic parts, and how impressive the “fireworks” were! 

When we played it together (the orchestra and me), it got better and better.  It felt like the orchestra was the engine, and my part simply emerged from it.  I hope many piccoloists all over the world get the chance to play this in its orchestral version.  While the piano reduction is good, it simply does not give the same support. 

Thank you for creating such a funny, witty, challenging and enjoyable piece, Dan! 

You’re welcome, Kate!