Makeshift Castle (2022)

for orchestra
2(II=alf, picc).2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).2(II=cbsn)
4.3.2.btrbn.1-timp.perc(2)-harp-pno-strings
15 minutes

Score and Recording Available Upon Request

Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, Music Director and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons, Gewandhauskapellmeister.

WORLD PREMIERE
The Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
July 29, 2022

Program Note

Makeshift Castle captures the human longing for permanence and immortality as well as an understanding of life’s ephemeral nature. All our castles and creations are makeshift and fleeting, and the music evokes an awareness of loss and a lust for life. The piece conjures a childhood memory: the evening I saw my first sunset, and the first time I saw my father cry. The sun’s colors shifted dramatically over a lake, and the vision moved my father to tears. He told me he remembered watching the sunset with his own mother, who passed away before I was born. It was the first time I understood that a moment in time could be both joyous and sorrowful, beautiful and heartbreaking.

The first movement depicts the youthful memory. Exuberant brass and boisterous percussion playfully anticipate the sunset. An innocent sense of triumph pervades the atmosphere. A sudden shift occurs as the sky changes colors, the trumpet becomes muted, and delicate strings envelope the listener. The music evokes a quiet awe and reverence for nature, the dawning
realization of mortal humility and of life’s fragility.

The second movement is a reflection on this memory as an adult, composed during the last year of my father’s life. A mournful bassoon, restless percussion, and a gauze of strings swirl with curiosity. The orchestra builds towards the climax, weaving threads of grief and a passion for life, integrating the destructive and creative forces of nature. The music of the sunset returns and the work draws to a close, embracing the majesty of enduring love and the intimacy of human life.