Cascade and Bow is a symphonic poem composed in may 2009 during my artistic residence at the Banff Centre in Canada. Cascade and Bow are the name of a mountain and a river, respectively. Both are part of the imposing geography of the Rocky Mountains which characterize this region of North America. Cascade is a long and steady ascent, inspired also by the aural illusion of the Shepherd Tones. During this ascent there are moments of rest and contemplation. At the end of Cascade, when the ascent has reached its peak, gravity engages and a fast and vertiginous fall occurs, as if at the end there was an even deeper abyss than the point of departure. Bow, the second symphonic poem, begins without interruption from the deepest point of the previous fall. Bow travels the valley from the river. The music does not describe anymore an ascent but a trip in between the Rocky Mountains in a fast and sometimes mighty river.
The work was premiered by Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, Baldur Brönnimann, conductor, on July 4 2009.
Orchestration: [2-2-3-2][4-2-2-1][timp-4 perc][piano][strings]
Duration: 16 minutes (all 4 poems)