THE BLACK RIDERS (2013)
For Orchestra (2.2.2.2 4.3.3.1 3 Perc Harp Piano/Celesta Strings)
Duration ca. 10:00
PROGRAM NOTES
In five movements:
black riders came from the sea
they threw back their heads to laugh
naked, bestial
it will make no melody at my will
range me all the men of the world in rows
The Black Riders is a set of five miniatures based on poems by American author Stephen Crane (1871-1900). Although best known for his novel The Red Badge of Courage, Crane was also a prolific poet. His verse is highly idiosyncratic and in many respects ahead of its time: prosaic, aphoristic, and full of surreal and macabre imagery. These miniatures strive to capture something of the surreality of the poems upon which they are based. Clouds of aleatoric sounds drift through the orchestra throughout, creating tension between order and disorder. The final movement, as long as the others combined, serves as a weighty capstone to the set.
The Black Riders was composed for the 2013 Aspen Music Festival, and premiered by the AACA Orchestra in Aspen, CO (June 2013).
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