B245BEBA-5FB1-476B-8B6C-3DAC4EAD1E4B
| ID | B245BEBA-5FB1-476B-8B6C-3DAC4EAD1E4B |
|---|---|
| Titlecode | R00369 |
| Title Name | Symphony No. 2 |
| Marketing Copy | Commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Recorded by the Riverside Symphony with George Rothman on New World Records. |
| Instrumentation | 2.2(1d EH).2(1d Piccolo Bb Cl, 1d BCl).2(1d Cbsn): 2(+2 opt).2(2d Picc Tpt).0.0: Perc(1).Hps(d Pno).Hp(+Hp 2 opt): Str (min 6.6.4.4.2) |
| Commission | Commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with the assistance of a Composer in Residence Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. |
| Dedication | To My Memory of My Father |
| Program Notes | My second symphony, composed on commission from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, was mostly written in the latter part of 1990 and is dedicated to the memory of my father who died in January of that year. While cast in three distinct movements, dramatically the work is intended to be all of a piece. An important structural model for me was the Greek tragedy. The very opening is much in the manner of a Greek chorus, the forces that will vie together in the course of the symphony are set forth in a multi-layered texture that is dominated by the narrative voice of a violin and cello duo. The drama proper begins with a set piece in a slower, pavane-like tempo. The episodes that follow take up issues presented in the opening "narrative" and pass through considerable tumult to a quiet ending. The second movement begins with a short fanfare-like flourish. At first the scherzo seems to be concerned with the quasi-fugal unfolding of a theme heard at the outset in the bassoons. But as the music continues, elements from the first movement infiltrate the texture, reasserting their dramatic conflicts. The opening flourish interrupts from time to time, as if to return the music to the subject of the bassoon's initial theme, but in the last measures this insistence yields to silence. These two opening movements complete the main dramatic action, thus the third movement offers both final commentary and resolution to the conflicts presented. It is largely elegiac in tone. The principal musical material is a chorale, heard four times in all, though each time with a different melody above. Interspersed is a second chorale, played first by a string trio and later by the harp, A quite brief scherzo-like episode ushers in the concluding section, the center-piece of which is a duo for horn and piano. And finally, at the close, one member of the first movement's narrative duo, the cello, sings the peroration to the entire symphony. --Stephen Hartke |
| Title Brand | 2 |
| Year Composed | 1991 |
| Copyright Number | (not set) |
| Copyright Year | (not set) |
| Duration | 25 |
| Ensemble Size | 13 |
| Date Created | 2008-10-31 20:31:18.000000 |
| Date Updated | 2025-09-30 20:31:18 |
| Inhouse Note | 5 yr term agreement. |
| Bsc Code | (not set) |
| Text Author | (not set) |
| Premier Performance Memo | (not set) |
| Recording Credits | Recorded by Riverside Symphony, George Rothman, New World Records CD 80533-2. |
| Review | "[Of] a raft of new or newish works played in recent weeks...only Hartke's Symphony No. 2 showed urgency of vision, and thoroughness of craft in its realization." --The New Yorker |
| Awards | (not set) |
| Title Category | 7 |
| Title Movements | (not set) |
| Title Grade | (not set) |
| Set Series ID | (not set) |
| Title Instrument Category Text | Full Orchestra |
| Title Sub Category Text | (not set) |
| Title Sub Category | 31 |
| Title Instrument Header | 41 |
| Title Grade Text | (not set) |
| Clean Url | symphony-no-2-r00369 |