About the creation

This work for symphony orchestra composed in the last decade of the 20^th century must, naturally enough, consider the problems and challenges which the 21^st century holds in store. We have researched and studied the musical elements of the great classical works to such great depths that by now we are ready to examine new aspects of coherence and to initiate reciprocal influences of reason and emotion which are but recently formed.

In the following I wish to give the listener some pointers which might assist him in discovering the growth of my musical landscape:

Each instrument produces a quality and energy or sound which originates in its individual inner life – rife with contrasts. It is, therefore not the tone colour which, anyway, defies description, but a measure of energy which stimulates both composer and listener. The apparently limitless variety of sound combinations must be used with care in formulating the basic musical thought of the composition. External brilliance of musical effects is insufficient and incapable of giving support or heightening any emotions; to this end a measured energy input must be used.

The effect of organized time, which we so inadequately call rhythm, also contributes to the above. It weaves a quasi musical net of light and shadow by making use of lighter and heavier accents, creating a texture in which the opaque and the transparent combine, to a varying degree, with the sound energy.

Such material requires other spaces than those offered by the limits – however greatly expanded – of a traditional symphony orchestra. We have as yet no terminology to define and name these processes, systems and theories. Everything is still evolving, yet we can distinguish the unbroken basic ties with the past which ensure the continuity of the flow. Nothing is broken off as a result of repetition in the composition even though this repetition differs from the petrified form it has assumed in the sonata. Repetition remains an important exponent of the cycle and now takes on various roles in assuring the continuous linking of the past to the future.

Josef Tal