PLUTO - A SEQUEL, FOR ORCHESTRA, 1997

Duration, 13 minutes

Orchestra (Soprano Solo, women's chorus I and II (SSA), 3 (picc), 2, E.Hn, 3 (Bcl),2; 4,3,3(B.Trmb),1;timp,perc(4), 2hp, str.)

Pluto, the furthest planet from the earth, had not been discovered when Gustaf Holst wrote The Planets. It seems appropriate now to compose a sequel about this newer planet named after the Roman god of the underworld, sometimes called King of the Dead. Pluto, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god, Hades, was unpitying, inexorable but just and is associated with aggression, passion, conflict, violence, war, intensity and extremes. This work portrays the personality and struggles of Pluto with a middle section about Persephone the goddess associated with the god of the underworld in the well known Greek myth.

Performances:

Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Radford, VA 3/18/97

Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Roanoke, VA 3/17/97