Update Title: 2ABC0514-3379-4718-9197-17C385342067

ID

Titlecode

Title Name

Marketing Copy

Instrumentation

Commission

Dedication

Program Notes

Why a symphony?  At the end of the 20th century does the term still make sense?  I have written other 'symphonic' works, including POWER PLAY, which the Seattle Symphony premiered in 1994, without using the title 'symphony.'  (My first, in one movement, was a Master's thesis in 1963.)  Somehow, though, I knew that in this new work I wanted a breadth of expression and a sweep of contrasts that would justify the use of this noblest of orchestral titles.  I only hope I've achieved my goal.  
The scherzo,'...LIKE THE WIND', was written first, in Pittsburgh, and completed in January 1996.  It was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony as part of a five-movement work to honor their new music director, Mariss Jansons.  Immediately I had the idea of putting this tiny three-minute piece in between two very large-scale movements in Symphony No. 2.  The outer movements were written in Santa Fe and Seattle.  The score was completed on October 19, 1996, our 33rd wedding anniversary.
The opening movement frames a fast part, marked 'Light, Dancing,' within a slow movement marked 'Inexorable.' The percussion section leads the development of the fast music, which also brings back music from the introduction, now turned ominous.
The concluding movement is mostly slow and intense, marked 'Ominous,' with fast interuptions.  The two outer movements are closely related in material, with the Scherzo an island between them.
Symphony No. 2 is dedicated to Judy and David Friedt, gracious hosts, true friends.  It was commisssioned by the Seattle Symphony with a fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (sadly, among the last given), as part of my terms as Composer in Residence of this wonderful orchestra."

-David Stock

Title Brand

Year Composed

Copyright Number

Copyright Year

Duration

Ensemble Size

Date Created

Date Updated

Inhouse Note

Bsc Code

Text Author

Premier Performance Memo

Recording Credits

Review

"Anyone who says the Seattle Symphony Orchestra audience is wholly resistant to new music is wrong. It is merely resistant to music it does not like. For example: David Stock's Second Symphony was given its world premiere Monday night at the Opera House, and the composer and the work received three enthusiastic curtain calls. The applause was deserved. The piece, written while Stock was composer-in-residence at the symphony during the 1996-97 season, is strongly argued. It is sometimes reflective of two 20th-century Russian masters, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, but ultimately represents StockÕs own voice.  The tiny and intriguing Scherzo, titled 'Like the Wind,' was not an original component of the symphony. It was written almost a year before the outer two movements of the 30-minute work and, Stock wrote in the program, he thought that it might fit. It does. The wind of the title is not a cheerful, little breeze. It is demonic, powerful, jagged, which is one of the reasons it is so suitable as a companion to the rest of the symphony. Stock has a way of taking the simplest material and turning it into something dramatic and meaningful. The beginning of the work, for instance, is a repeated two-note phrase in the lower strings, initially in contrast to the tympani . . . Stock turns and shapes it, then releases it, only to return to it unexpectedly. With the use of much brassÑlow trombones in long, striking passages and high, brilliant trumpetsÑand percussion, Stock makes a tight mesh of sound that is at once dense yet not thick. The symphony is somewhat dark, to which Stock alludes in his titles: the first movement, ÔInexorable,Õ and the third, ÔOminous.Õ And indeed, they are, with tight bursts of sound that penetrated the Opera House with unquestioned urgency and fire. He goes well beyond the usual percussive nature of many American works and their big, open concepts. The difference in the Second Symphony is that the bombast and color and edge have meaning and enjoy a substantive relationship with one another."--R.M. Campbell, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER<BR><BR>

"The surprise package of the concert was the official unveiling of the Second Symphony by David Stock. The symphony is written in three movements, with the outer two acting as heavy bookends to the only relatively light scherzo in the middle. The first movement, titled 'Inexorable,' began with a fateful-sounding timpani pattern that was picked up by the cellos and bassoons, and strangely contrasted by the eerie cries of the violins in their highest registers. It proceeded to move into a lighter dancing section with some great writing for the entire percussion section. The middle Scherzo, called 'Like the Wind,' is a delightfully manic movement, like an enormous wind-up toy gone psychotic. The final movement was titled 'Ominous,' but was not as ominous as the first movement. This one was more pensive, really, but led up to a marvelously frenzied climax."<BR>--John Sutherland, THE SEATTLE TIMES

Awards

Title Category

Title Movements

Title Grade

Set Series ID

Title Instrument Category Text

Title Sub Category Text

Title Sub Category

Title Instrument Header

Title Grade Text

Clean Url