Symphonies

My Symphony #1 has 4 movements.

The first movement is scored for Strings, only. The second movement is for Woodwinds and 'bright' percussion (Triangle and Tambourine). The third movement is for Brass and 'dark' percussion (Timpani and Tam-Tam). The fourth (last) movement is for the entire orchestra.

My Symphony #2 also has 4 movements. This symphony is subtitled "America" and depicts the promise of America for immigrants through the ages.

The first movement "Across the Ocean" depicts a voyage, including boisterous waves, calm and vision of the destination, a storm at sea, and landfall after the storm.

The second movement "New World" depicts the mystery and majesty of exploring an unknown land.

The third movement "Conflict" depicts wars that have ravaged the land and tested the inhabitants.

The fourth movement "One Nation..." - finish the phrase to grasp the full meaning - depicts the triumph of those whose struggles brought us the freedoms we now enjoy. Is America perfect? Not yet - but it holds that promise for those willing to continue the struggle for earthly perfection.

NOTE: On Sat 19 Nov 2022 I received an email from Jay Dressler, who runs an Institute orchestra in St.George, Utah. He asked permission to play my Sym2inAm in Spring 2023, practice to start in Jan 2023, and asked me for instrument part files. I agreed and have created the part files for all 4 movements, on separate pages attached to this page. (Added later - by Summer of 2023 I had heard nothing from him, I emailed him asking about the concert, never received an answer.)

I wrote my Third Symphony (in C) in Nov - Dec 2021. It has no "program" to it. The second movement uses two Chinese folk songs that I heard on my Mission (1967 - 1969). The third movement is a Passacaglia and Variations on a Theme given to me by a friend from Massachusetts, "Terry" Mitchell, in early Summer 1965 - it took a while for me to use it, "Terry", but here it is at last.

I wrote my Fourth Symphony (in Fm) in Dec 2023. The first ideas for this came to me some 60 years ago, as I was mowing the lawn behind our house. My original idea was to compose a long suite for all 9 planets (sorry, Pluto) in our Solar System. That idea slowly turned into something else. I finally decided (after 60 years!) to use the ideas I had kept in my head for a symphony, the result shown here. The subtitle is an old Latin phrase used many places, including the British Royal Air Force. It is, 'Through adversity to the stars", meaning that is how we progress in this life. I tried to show such progression in the music.

I wrote my Fifth Symphony (in Cm) from 31 Dec 2023 - 14 Jan 2024. The 3rd and 4th movements are together, with no break between them - following the example of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, which is a far superior work.

I composed my Sixth Symphony in Feb - March 2024. Subtitled "Border Songs", it portrays a T'ang Dynasty poem by Lu Lun (739 - 799 CE) about a military expedition against the Tartars some centuries earlier. The text is the 4 stanzas of his poem (1 for each movement), which were originally 'set to music' of the T'ang period, but which has since been lost to the West. I first read this poem in the summer of 1967 on my LDS mission in Chia Yi, T'ai Wan, and marked the stanzas for future use in my own music. After nearly 57 years, I finally realized the ideas I had that summer in far-away (and long ago) Chia Yi... The symphony is for full orchestra (including percussion) and includes a Baritone solo (representing the General of the military expedition) and TTBB male chorus (representing the soldiers).

Files are accessible below.

Symphonies

Symphony #1 in Dm (Op.43)

Symphony #2 in Am - The Promise of America (Op.60)