Symphony No. 3 (Palo Duro Canyon)
Instrumentation: *3,*3,*3,*3/4,3,3,1/T,5P,Hp/Stgs.
Duration: 23 mins.
Commissioned by the Amarillo Symphony, this work had its premiere on May 1, 1992, under the baton of James Setapen. It has been performed many times since, and it is rapidly earning consideration for inclusion on the honor roll of great third symphonies by outstanding American composers. The subject of an hour-long television program broadcast nationally in over 125 cities, it elicited unprecedented viewer response. The Palo Duro Canyon is one of America’s most interesting. Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, said of this canyon, “What is undeniable…is the power that [it has] to arouse in us a sense of the long, long movements of time—a sense, if you will, of the eternal.” Like the canyon itself, this symphony creates a feeling of progression from prehistoric times to the distant future, all underscored with the grandeur and beauty of the canyon.
- “…original color, interesting orchestral writing, and evocations worth hearing more than once.”
---R.M. Campbell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- “This ingratiating work [was] at once musically convincing and aesthetically satisfying. Stalwart tonal melodies, supported by mildly dissonant harmonic structures…unabashedly romantic in nature.…Anyone with a mind and heart in working condition could easily fall into the mood created in this music.”
---Matilda Gaume, Canyon News
- “This piece echoes the words ‘exhilarating’ and ‘total wonderment.’…True-to-life, the symphony opens with the sounds of the wind and concludes on the mystical note of man’s search for meaning.”
---Kay Mohr Paine, Amarillo Daily News
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