Metropolitan

(formerly titled HIP+NOW)
for orchestra

WORLD PREMIERE November 13, 2005, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, Allen Tinkham, conductor

Duration:8'00"

3.2.2.2, 4.3.3.1, Timp, 3Perc, Pno, Hp, Strings

Performance materials available for hire. Score available for sale from OK Feel Good Music.

Metropolitan began with a stylistic approach—that of chic pop-inspired harmonies and pulses, with the sheen of a "downtown" aesthetic. But the piece quickly edged away from this style-concept, and I found myself more and more interested in simply working with the musical elements involved: stuttering mixed-meters, layered grooves inspired by American minimalism, three-against-four cross-rhythms, stretched-out harmonic rhythm, and a single, compact melodic cell. "Style" would come out on its own, without my impositions. The result is a raucous celebration of stylistic variety, where all my musical religions converge. To that end, the original title, Hip+Now, which implied the first, less serious and more ironic aim, was dropped in favor of Metropolitan's more appropriate intimation of grand and sweeping eclecticism.

Read by the ACO May 20-21, 2004, Carl St. Clair, conductor.

This licensed streaming-audio of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra is provided FOR REVIEW and FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY.