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Pacific Rim is a virtuoso showpiece for the orchestra, and is also a reflection of how certain aspects of Asian and Latin-American musics have filtered into my mind and become transformed and absorbed within my compositional thought.  The piece is in two linked sections and may be simply described as a processional and fugue.

The processional moves at a brisk march-like tempo, but with the primary emphasis on the unfolding of its melody rather than the trend of its rhythm.  It opens with a high, floating chord, first in the strings then in the winds, reminiscent of the sonority of Japanese gagaku music.  A pair of oboes enters, stating the basic melodic idea of the processional, which then unfolds as an alternation of stanzas for oboes and later clarinets, with refrains dominated by the trumpets.  The other instruments interact with the melody in clearly defined roles, helping to articulate details of the melody's structure.  The clearest example of this is in the percussion, which marks off the beginnings of phrases to come.  When the final refrain reaches its culmination, the processional rounds a corner, leaving behind a quietly rising cloud of sound in the upper strings.

The second part begins with a solo for tuned cowbells.  This is the start of the fugue, one that is primarily concerned with rhythmic energy, in contrast to the first part.  The fugue subject is presented successively in the strings and then woodwinds, leading eventually to a full orchestral climax that borrows its harmonic basis from the processional.  Shortly thereafter, the fugue too rounds a corner, leaving behind distant fragments. Soft gong strokes usher in a pair of slow phrases in the strings as something of a benediction before returning to the fast pace of the finale.  The brass burst in with one last statement of the fugue subject and the piece comes to a boisterous conclusion. --Stephen Hartke

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"Hartke's music is a joyful thing.... He writes music that is both accessible and meticulously crafted in a completely tonal language informed by a wildly creative musical imagination. It's eventful, engaging, surprising, immensely satisfying." --Scott Morrison, Classical Music Review.com

"The new work on the program--Stephen HartkeÕs Pacific Rim --proved to be a superb 10-minute tone poem that was the musical equivalent of the 'Rainbow Coalition.' The composer has woven together--quite seamlessly and wonderfully--tantalizing musical fragments from the shores upon which the Pacific Ocean washes. There were allusions to Latin American dance music, to the gamelan ensembles of Indonesia and to the sonorities of Japanese music. If Pacific Rim is an eclectic piece. it is also a terrific one--filled with unflagging rhythmic energy and wit." --Baltimore Sun

"Hartke's Pacific Rim [has a] style molded by keen originality, brilliant technique and a concern for reaching not just the ear and intellect but the heart as well...." --Lawrence B. Johnson, The Detroit News

"Hartke has a truly unique sense for orchestral sound and he blends instruments and orchestral sections in an often delightful way." --Jacob Siskind, The Ottawa Citizen

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