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World Premieres by Douglas J. Cuomo with Orchestra of the Swan and Seraphic Fire

Nov. 02, 2016

World Premieres by Douglas J. Cuomo with Orchestra of the Swan and Seraphic Fire

Douglas J. Cuomo sees the world premieres of two new works in November, with performances taking place in the US and UK. On November 8, the Orchestra of the Swan debuts Cuomo’s Objects in Mirror, a new three-movement work inspired by Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, and on November 11 the Miami-based choir Seraphic Fire gives the premiere of The Fate of His Ashes: A Requiem for Victims of Power for SATB chorus and organ. 

Objects in Mirror was commissioned by Orchestra of the Swan for their 21st Anniversary season and premieres as part of their “Bach to the Future” program at the Stratford ArtsHouse in Warwickshire. The instrumentation mirrors that of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, with flute, oboe, trumpet, violin, and harpsichord as soloists led by conductor David Curtis. The composer states:

Utilizing the same three-movement form as the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, I took some of Bach’s ideas and expressed them in my own language. Rhythmic propulsion, ceaseless motion and jazz-like harmonic movement (a few centuries early) are three of the notions I worked with. I borrowed some very brief note sequences which I developed into themes, and let the trumpet rest during the entire first and third movements (Bach had him rest during the second), to create a kind of mirror-symmetry. And just for fun, each movement has the exact same number of bars as the original.

This marks Cuomo’s second work for Orchestra of the Swan, following his concerto for cello and sampled sermon Black Diamond Express Train to Hell from 2010, a co-commission from the American Composers Orchestra and Orchestra of the Swan.

Conductor Patrick Dupré leads Seraphic Fire and organist Nathan Laube in the premiere performances of The Fate of His Ashes: A Requiem for Victims of Power as part of their “In Rememberance” concert in Coral Gables, Florida. The piece features text derived from the Epistle to the Reader of Sir Thomas Browne’s Hydriotaphia. Cuomo explains:

I compiled the text by redacting (i.e. eliminating) many of the words of the original, leaving behind a ghostly contemplation on the metaphysical uses of a body after death. Something hidden is revealed by elimination. Death eliminates too, and can reveal. 

Following the world premiere on November 11, Seraphic Fire takes Cuomo's new choral work on tour with performances in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (November 12) and Washington, DC (November 13).

For more information about Douglas J. Cuomo, visit schott-music.com.

Douglas J. Cuomo
Objects in Mirror (2016)
for chamber orchestra
fl.ob-tpt in C-hpd-solo vn-str
12’ 

Black Diamond Express Train to Hell (2010)
concerto for cello and sampled sermon
1(pic)1.1.1-1.1.1.0-timp.2perc-hp-sampler-str
18’

The Fate of His Ashes: A Requiem for Victims of Power (2016)
for SATB chorus and organ
text from the Epistle to the Reader of Hydriotaphia (1658) by Sir Thomas Browne
10’

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