Description
New Year’s Fanfare (1999) “A Fanfare for a New Millennium”
for orchestra
duration: 4’
Commissioned by the Naples Philharmonic and premiered on December 31, 1999, Erich Kunzel conductor
Even the casual listener would notice many famous musical works referenced, or hinted at, during the course of this New Year’s Fanfare. This is not by accident. Created for the Naples Philharmonic for its Millennium celebration of 2000, I wanted to pay homage to the significant works of the previous millennium that have come to be known as defining musical milestones, and have permeated into public society. The piece begins with a quick reference to Medieval and Renaissance music, with open 5ths and tenor drums. Thrust into a quick and energetic fanfare, quick and short excerpts begin to emerge. These include: Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s 5th and 9th Symphonies, the Dies Irae heard in many symphonic works (e.g. Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique and Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini), Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathrusta and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The main theme of the fanfare is taken from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. If other works are discovered, they are either by accident or intended!! All of these references subside as the New Year’s Anthem: Auld Lang Syne begins to surface, propelling the work into a glorious conclusion.
