Instrumentation: strings

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Duration:  11 minutes

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World Premiere:  Commissioned and premiered by the Vermont Symphony, Jaime Laredo, conductor, on the orchestra’s Fall Tour from September 24 through October 5, 2008

 

Program Notes:

Autumn Rhapsody was commissioned and premiered by the Vermont Symphony for their 2008 Fall tour.  The tour took place during the peak foliage season in Vermont and the orchestra performed in many of the small towns throughout the state.  One of my favorite places in Vermont is on the Long Trail, on the top of Mount Belvidere, near Jay Peak.  There's a fire tower on top which one can climb up and see the surrounding mountains of Vermont and Canada for many miles.  I grew up near this spot and had this place in mind when starting work on this piece.  

 

Written for string orchestra, the piece, all in one continuous movement, begins with slow, lyrical and mysterious music.  The music is very still, creating a sense of suspended time.  This gradually gives way to faster, more animated, and energetic music.  This section is characterized by strings playing measured tremolos; the rapid, rhythmic movement of the bow across the strings. 

 

All through my formative years in Vermont, I studied piano and composition with Arlene Cleary.  She was an extremely energetic and tireless advocate for music, always striving to make herself a better musician, and helped me to do so as well.  This piece is dedicated to her.  

 

-- Pierre Jalbert