Orchestral Music

Copyright © Spencer Russell Smith 2015

The first movement of my first Symphony "The Rose," performed by the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Conducted by Qingqing Qian-Hilkert.

This piece was first conceived three years ago, and since has been heavily revised to fit the sonata form, as is typical for the first movement of a symphony. The piece starts out with a slow, building introduction, which moves into a mysterious atmosphere as the first theme introduces itself. The sparse orchestration becomes thicker as the music moves toward the second theme, and immediately becomes twice as fast for the second theme. This path is repeated once with different instrumentation and a journey to a new key area before moving to the development, where the entire orchestra highlights a motif that was hinted at in the introduction, and then slowly decreases in volume as that motif is repeated until the piece comes to a stop. A chorus of horns take over, playing the second theme by themselves, and just as they end their chorale, the rest of the orchestra joins in to signal the final section of the piece. Although the piece has returned to the first theme, it has picked up a bit more motion this time. A fanfare signals its final iteration before building to the second theme’s return. This time, however, the two melodies of the second theme entwine themselves, and before the piece ends with a bang, the motif hinted at in the introduction mixes with material from the first theme, ending the movement with the same material that began it.

Symphony No. 1  The Rose,  I  Mysterioso - Presto

Copyright © Spencer Russell Smith 2015

The Second Movement of my First Symphony, "The Rose,"
Performed by the Boston University All-Campus Orchestra, and Conducted by Mark Miller.

This piece was conceived three years ago, as the slow movement, second movement of the symphony using the second movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony as a structural model. 
After a short chorale by the winds to begin the movement, the a solo clarinet introduces the first theme, followed by a second iteration of the theme, which builds to a large blast by the brass. The horns then take over the main theme to end the first section of the piece, and a trumpet call heralds the entrance of the second theme.
The piece changes from minor to major, and the second theme is much more spritely and joyous than its predecessor. From here, many different instruments take over playing the second theme, building until the piece switches back to minor with a melody made from a mixture of the two themes. The piece then suddenly switches back to major once more, and the entire orchestra comes in with a huge fanfare that appears in each movement of the symphony.
After the dust clears from the fanfares, the first theme comes back in the flute and a solo violin, bringing the piece back to minor once and for all, before a final horn chorale, and a nice high, quiet chord of flutes and strings to end the piece.

Symphony No. 1  The Rose,  II  Largo

Night Music Prelude

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