Symphony No. 1 (Theofanidis)
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The Symphony is an orchestral composition in four movements by the American composer Christopher Theofanidis. It was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which premiered the work under the conductor Robert Spano in April 2009. The piece is dedicated to Robert Spano "in admiration and friendship."[1]
The Symphony has a duration of roughly 35 minutes and is composed in four numbered movements. The first movement has a duration of roughly 12 minutes; in the program notes, Theofanidis described it and the fourth movement as "the big pillars of the piece, both emotionally and in scale." The second movement has a duration of roughly 8 minutes and was described by the composer as "quite lyrical, but not slow." The third movement is a brief scherzo-ritornello with a duration of only about 4 minutes. The final movement has a duration of roughly 10 minutes; the composer described its relation to the opening movement, writing:
The first movement and last movement both hinge on two contrasting types of energies—in the first movement, the feeling is joyous but occasionally takes turns into a slightly out-of-control version of itself. The last movement is quite dark and monolithic in character, but is occasionally tormented by flashes of light and beauty. I saw these two movements as mirror opposites of each other. The first is mostly quite fast, the last has a certain breadth and grandeur with some occasional faster music.[1]
