08DBF69B-2E41-4215-A66E-F58D7A6D07A9

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ID08DBF69B-2E41-4215-A66E-F58D7A6D07A9
TitlecodeR00048
Title NameSymphony No. 3
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Instrumentation3(1d Piccolo, Alto Flute).3(1d English Horn).3(1d Bass Clarinet).3(1d ContraBassoon): 4.3.3.1: Timpani.Percussion(2).Piano(d Celesta).Harp: Strings
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Dedication
Program NotesMy third symphony was composed in 1990, for Lawrence Leighton Smith. It is in one movement, with a duration of approximately eighteen minutes.

There are basically three images which form the personnae of this work: the first is "as if from afar," either in distance and /or in time; the second is a waltz which is in the process of emerging; and the third is a slow, highly emotional string section. Musically, the three images stem from the same source -a simple scale, usually ascending.

Formally, the main structural element is not linear...the symphony does not "progress" in a temporal sense. Rather, I conceived of the structure as a continual interplay of the three images, with increasing understanding as each one undergoes development. However, this is not "development" in the usual meaning of that term; my concept is one of ever-greater revelation, as the images are extended, placed in different contexts, and transformed coloristically. 'Structure by accretion' is the closest I can come to formal terminology.

The orchestra plays two kinds of music: normal, metered music and free, unmetered music. In the second category, I utilize the musicians as if they were playing chamber music; they perform soloistically, independently. In these free sections, the image "from afar" undergoes its development, usually with trumpet anchors--for it is the trumpet section which first articulates this idea at the beginning.

The waltz, an homage to Bill Evans, and the string sections recur throughout, each entry adding another level of meaning. My hope is that the symphony as a whole creates a dramatic, human soundscape, and that the final emergence of the waltz, at the very end, heralds an optimistic future. --Edward Applebaum
Title Brand2
Year Composed1990
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Duration18
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Date Created2008-10-31 00:00:00.000000
Date Updated2023-06-25 05:30:48
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Premier Performance Memo-World Premiere, Louisville Symphony Orchestra/ Lawrence Leighton Smith. 20 Feb 92.
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Clean Urlsymphony-no-3-r00048