Celebration Overture
Lee Actor
About this work:
Celebration Overture was written in honor of the Palo Alto Philharmonic’s 20th anniversary season. Intended specifically to open a program before Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, its instrumentation is nearly identical to that of Beethoven’s monumental work – plus the addition of a tuba.
As one might expect from the title, the prevailing mood in Celebration Overture is one of joyous celebration. When I was designing the overall shape of the piece, it was apparent that continuous celebrating for its 11-minute duration would be emotionally exhausting for the listener, as well as structurally unsatisfying. The form I designed is rather unusual for a work labeled “overture”. It consists of an opening fanfare, followed by several sections of various distinct characters and moods, all based on the same musical material. The effect is something akin to a series of variations, or perhaps more accurately, a series of vignettes that have a perceptible, if at times elusive commonality.
Celebration Overture begins with a jubilant fanfare stated mainly in the brass and percussion, with woodwinds and strings providing a colorful and busy background. Eventually the energy of the fanfare dissipates and leads directly to a section marked Misterioso. This music is slower and mostly quiet, featuring a solo horn musing on the previous fanfare motif in a contemplative mood.
Following without pause is a swiftly moving scherzo (Allegro scherzando), in which strings and woodwinds dart rapidly among one another, then join together briefly in E-flat to disagree with the brass, who keep insisting loudly on the note A. Things quickly quiet back down and the search for a new key begins, a resolution finally seeming to arrive on F.
The F unexpectedly drops to a punctuated, rumbling low E in the cellos and basses (Allegro alla marcia). An altered version of the fanfare motif, now at a march tempo, is heard in the muted horns, as if coming from a distance. This is answered by a descending phrase in the strings, and the two ideas are exchanged by various groups in the orchestra and then seem to die out, when suddenly a transformation of the descending phrase bursts out in the trumpets and horns in a kind of weird march. The woodwinds then try their hand at the march, a discussion with the strings takes place, the brass join in, and finally the full orchestra plays a no-holds-barred version of the march. This plays itself out, ultimately leaving only the punctuated rumble in the low strings, a final echo of the altered fanfare in the muted horns, and a fragment in the high flutes.
The following section, Allegro ridiculoso, juxtaposes unconnected musical phrases against one another in unexpected and sometimes grotesque ways. A rollicking tune is played by the clarinet and is soon taken up by the whole orchestra, but it lasts only briefly before being abruptly cut off. Fragments of music heard earlier in the piece slowly build in a transition to the return of the original fanfare music, now in a somewhat compacted form. A brief coda containing a new lyrical idea in the oboe leads to a rousing final climax.
Celebration Overture was commissioned by the Palo Alto Philharmonic, and written between July and September of 2007.
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:11:10
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flute, 2 Oboe, 2 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 4 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 3 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 3 Percussion (General), 1 Strings (General)