Symphony no. 2
Stephen Ferre
About this work:
Symphony No 2 was completed during my first year of graduate school. It is larger in scope and much more advanced than my first symphone. It utilizes serial techniques and is based on a 16 pitch row. The 4 repeated pitch-classes appear in an optional 4 note group. The symphony betrays early examples of techniques that would later turn to in my mature style, for example reordering the row by hexachords to create the passacaglia for the second movement, free ordering of those hexachords, aleatorics, and process rotations of the row in the third movement.
The work has a loose program based on the beginning of the Destination: Void series by the icon Sci-Fi writer Frank Herbert (author of Dune), although officially the first book was left out of the series. At that time onlythe next book, The Jesus Incident, had been written, and the two were connected by their main character, Raja Flattery. In the first movement Flattery (a reluctant hero) is depicted by a lop-sided march theme. In the Passacaglia, an extended euphonium solo represents as a flashback, the vast period of time that spans the gap between the novels. The finale depicts some of the action from the second novel, culminating in a heroic climax with a puzzling ending on a high F major chord of string harmonics and woodwinds.
Year composed: 1984
Duration: 00:31:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 3 Flute, 2 Oboe, 2 Clarinet, 1 Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F, 3 Trumpet, 3 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Euphonium/Tenor Tuba, 1 Timpani, 3 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General)
Instrumentation notes: orch