ca. 22 minutes - Consortium exclusivity ends December 1, 2025 Contact [email protected] for more information.
Program Notes
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life…” Jack Kerouac, On the Road
In the late 1940’s and 1950’s, the so-called Beat Generation of American writers challenged the perception of their nation and its people. They wrote on the joy of America’s natural beauty and grandeur – its powerful music and poetry, but also the suffering and malaise of its citizens, weighed down by those who would exploit them. My second symphony ruminates on the words of four Beat Poets and how they might relate to our current mindset in the second quarter of the 21st century. In four movements, a musical road trip of the mind is cast as each one is built on a different author and American place.
I. Junkman's Obbligato (New York City) - This fiery poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti deals with the complex and testy emotions of Greenwich Village in the late 1940's and was distinctly influenced by jazz. Swing and bebop intermingle with mid-century modernism, with stabbing brass and percussion alongside swirling winds as Ferlinghetti begs us to “come on, let’s go!”
II. Intricate Shreds (New Orleans) - Bob Kaufman’s Believe, Believe references jazz alongside fears of nuclear war and the rise of authoritarianism. Here, a soulful clarinet and soprano saxophone duet recall Sidney Bechet alongside an ominous heartbeat of the second line "big four" rhythm. Jelly Roll Morton’s “Spanish tinge” appears in the form of a brash habanera to give way to the ticking of an atom bomb. Finally, these “shreds” recombine alongside a paraphrase of Bach’s St. John Passion to end with an ominous alarm bell.
III. I Saw God in the Sky (Colorado) - Jack Kerouac spent significant time in Colorado with his friend Neal Cassady, the inspiration for Dean Moriarty in On the Road. Here, I use my own musical language to express the beauty and transcendence of the high desert of the Rockies as described by Kerouac.
IV. The Machinery of Night (San Francisco) - Finally, Allen Ginsberg's immortal Howl was published shortly after his move to California. All of the earlier movements’ themes find their way here, much as each author eventually came to this beautiful mess of a city. A psychedelic infernal dance utilizes malambo, bop, and samba rhythms as night clubs blare into the foggy San Francisco gloom. At last, we hear Kaufman’s alarm bell now joyous as it strikes six in the morning of a new American age.
This work was commissioned by a consortium of wind conductors led by Dr. Andrew Trachsel, University of North Texas and Dr. Rebecca Phillips, Colorado State University. The symphony is dedicated to composers David Amram and Sammy Nestico.
-Notes by the composer
Consortium Members
Andrew Trachsel, University of North Texas, lead commissioner Rebecca Phillips, Colorado State University, co-lead commissioner Rickey Badua, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Daniel Belongia, Arkansas Tech University Cody Birdwell, University of Kentucky Wesley Broadnax, University of Northern Colorado Jim Daughters, Cincinnati Wind Band Shigero Genda, Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra Jay S. Gephart, Indiana Wind Symphony Christopher Knighten, University of Arkansas James Lambrecht, Augustana College Erik Leung, Oregon State University Matthew McCutchen, University of South Florida Myron Peterson, Boise State University Edward Protzman, Portland State University Catherine Rand, University of Southern Mississippi Robert Schwartz, Southeastern Louisiana University Richard Strauch, Whitworth University William Talley, Ohio University Andrew Yozviak, West Chester University