SYMPHONY NO. 1, Lake Voices 1997

commission: Akron Symphony Orchestra

Duration, 16 minutes

Orchestra (3 (picc),2,e.hn,2,B.cl,2,Cbsn;4,3,3,1;timp,perc(3),Hp, Str

Walking near the lake, there seem to be mysterious messages in the wind about the wonder of water and its eternal necessity to sustain life, about the lake's infinite, timeless energy, its sparkling beauty, its calmness, its uncontrollable wildness, its pleasure for people, with images of water and sun, boats, shores filled with sun-bathers, as well as an awareness of the trash along the shore, the pollution in the water and in the air above it. This work is a reaction to these various voices from the lake. Ringing bells are a continuous presence. Sometimes bell-like instruments ring in the percussion section. Even more often the brass section or the entire orchestra play the melodies of ringing bells. Perhaps they are ringing to praise the beauty of the lake, and perhaps to toll the alarm, to toll the warning, to call people to action.

Symphony No. 1 was commissioned by the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Alan Balter, conductor, and underwritten by the John S. Knight and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment For the Arts.

Performances:

Long Beach Symphony, Zuochuang Chen, conductor, Long Beach, California, 5/1/99

Wichita Symphony, Zuochuang Chen, conductor, Wichita, Kansas, 3/21/99

Wichita Symphony, Zuochuang Chen, conductor, Wichita, Kansas, 3/20 /99

WCLV, 9/26/98, (part of an hour program of her music aired nationally via the Internet)

WCLV, 4/4/98, (part of an hour program of her music aired nationally via the Internet)

Performance Today, 2/9/98, Washington D.C., aired nationally

Premiere Akron Symph. Orch, Akron, Oh, EJ Thomas Perf. Arts Hall, 10/25/97