SPOTLIGHT ON: Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 24, "An Evening in Yerevan"
NOW LIVE!
Sometimes in life, a journey is required to ignite a purpose. For me, that purpose is this concerto. Composed during a period of intense artistic urgency following my retirement, infirmity, and subsequent re-emergence into composition, "An Evening in Yerevan" is an epic work for orchestra and solo viola. It details, in three demanding movements, the profound, almost spiritual reconciliation between the austere disciplines of a professional life, our human frailty and the boundless, soul-deep freedom of creative truth, all set against the backdrop of a vibrant, ancient city. It is the culmination of a relentless, prodigious output of over twenty-five serious works composed since my March 2024 transition.
This piece stands as a testament to the idea that the heart's work requires the mind's discipline.
As you listen...
Movement I: "A Prayer at Sunset"
(Adagio con pasione)
The first movement is born of a singular, reverent experience: standing in the glow of Yerevan’s Tuff stone architecture. Here, the soul is drawn into a contemplation of a great legacy, realized through an intensely contemporary American style. The emotional architecture of this movement is rooted in the Romantic intensity of Samuel Barber, with the solo viola—in full throaty voice—emerging to carry a long-lined, deeply felt, and almost austere melodic prayer. This movement establishes the structural clarity and intense commitment that defines the entire work, fusing deep emotion with formal rigor.
Movement II: "Ballet Rustico"
(Allegro vivace e ritmico)
This central movement is an expression of kinetic liberation and cultural immersion, inspired by the vigorous, shifting rhythms of Armenian street life and folk traditions. Propelled by a relentless rhythmic engine, this movement’s structural integrity and vibrant energy evoke the direct, clear-lined open-chord voicings and structural clarity of Aaron Copland. It is the disciplined dance that follows profound introspection, a celebration of the vitality required to achieve such unbridled, honest expression.
Movement III: "Moonlit Promenade"
(Allegro maestoso)
The triumphant finale reconciles the grand scale of the experience with the personal voice of the American composer. Evoking the shimmering patterns of moonlight over the ancient city, the movement resolves the concerto's contrasting forces. The viola soloist negotiates the most intense harmonic and expressive demands, weaving a dialogue with the full ensemble that leads to a final, sustained declaration that the clarity, the discipline, and the profound passion are, in fact, one and the same. The result is a spiritual singularity resolved in the spectral whisper of an orchestral pianissimo, leaving the listener with an echo of a hard-won peace.