Red Rock for Orchestra

Red Rock is a symphonic poem commissioned by the Henderson Symphony and its music director, Taras Krysa, premiered in the Fall of 2013. The music is based on the interaction of two musical materials, the first, calm and diatonic, presented by the French horns after the introduction and elaborated by the trumpets and the woodwinds; and the second, more angular and chromatic, also introduced by a solo French horn in the second section. Similar to a sonata form, these materials go through transformations and developments in the middle section, and return evolved and reconciled at the end of the movement.

The piece suggests a gliding trip over the stunning landscape of the Red Rock canyon, with its sharp geological contrasts, its ever changing shapes, and its surprising colors.

Orchestration: [2-2-2-2][4-2-2-1][3 perc+timp][strings]

This Recording: Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Petr Vronsky, conductor