Update Title: 341A8130-55FF-47F8-BF66-12CC2DAD3BCD

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Not long after the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords, which ended the state of war between Israel and Egypt, a melody came to me--a tune inspired by the spirit of hope and determination of that momentous occasion.  This melody would become the centerpiece of A Camp David Overture, written in tribute to the signatories of the Camp David Accords:  President Jimmy Carter, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and President Anwar el-Sadat.  The idea of composing an overture to mark this event seemed particurlarly appropriate, since the peace accords themselves represented not a conclusion, but rather the beginning of a new era.  This led to its world premiere with the Sacramento Symphony in 1996.

A Camp David Overture contains several symbolic musical gestures, which portray the spirit of the Camp David Peace Accords and the peace process in general.  The music begins with a solemn introduction.  The lowest strings present a four-note motive in their darkest registers to evoke the divine consciousness recounting a history of long-standing enmity and despair (this primary motive, first presented chromatically to suggest foreboding will by work's end become transformed within a glorious major key).  The middle section of A Camp David Overture, marked Allegro Furioso, is highly percussive and punctuated by dissonant outbursts.  There also exist within this section two episodes of aleatoric  music, which means, quite simply, that they create a "chaotic" texture.  I use this device to symbolize the senselessness of war.  Further, I have indicated that the second, and larger, of these climactic episodes last for exactly thirty seconds--one second for each year that a state of war existed between Israel and Egypt.  As this episode gradually fades, the beginning of the principal melody appears.  Borrowed from cinematography, this "dissolve technique" allows the new theme to enter like the sun rising behind a storm cloud.  While the melody is written to sound like a folk tune (to evoke a common language of peace), it is intended to transcend national and ethnic borders.  This theme and its subsequent variations conclude A Camp David Overture, ultimately taking the form of an "anthem of peace."  --Bruce Craig Roter

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