| Program Notes | Cascade is a ten-minute overture for orchestra that features a fanfare-like principal motive and makes extensive use of syncopated, American rhythms. My own musical roots as a singer are emphasized in the middle section of the work, where a lyrical melody is presented in the violins, first as a single line then successively in 2 and 3 part canon. Cascade began its life during the summer of 1999, when I spent a month living and working at Aaron Copland's house as a recipient of the 1999 Aaron Copland Award. I spent the month sketching music for orchestra, but subsequently put the sketches aside to work on various chamber music projects with more pressing deadlines. When Larry Livingston asked me last spring to compose a piece for the Thornton Symphony as part of my 50th birthday celebration here at school, I was happy to come back to those sketches and spend the summer expanding them into Cascade. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Larry, to Stephen Hartke, and to all of my colleagues and students here at the Thornton School who have made this extended retrospective such a pleasure, for me at least! --Donald Crockett |
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