PILGRIMATIC OVERTURE
2+picc., 2+e.h., 2+b.cl., 2+cbn. | 4, 3, 3, 1 | timp., 3 perc., pno. | str.
2+picc., 2+e.h., 2+b.cl., 2+cbn. | 4, 3, 3, 1 | timp., 3 perc., pno. | str.
PROGRAM NOTE
Pilgrimatic, but not programmatic, this overture is a narrative of tension and release, pinnacles and pitfalls. The pilgrimage in question may be left to the imagination of the audience and performers, but musically speaking, the pilgrim in this composition is the main melody that is presented right at the start. Like any pilgrim en route, the development of this pronounced theme, perceived through time, necessarily involves moments of conflict and resolution, challenges that must be overcome, storms that must be weathered in order to emerge strengthened. It is this experience, musically, in which I was interested while composing this work: the perseverance of a melody through different contexts, building musical character, inevitably producing hope. In other words, what better way to intensify light than to pit it against darkness? In this piece, musical optimism goes head-to-head with musical pessimism so that joy not only triumphs, but emerges deeper than when it began.
—Jacob Beranek
Pilgrimatic, but not programmatic, this overture is a narrative of tension and release, pinnacles and pitfalls. The pilgrimage in question may be left to the imagination of the audience and performers, but musically speaking, the pilgrim in this composition is the main melody that is presented right at the start. Like any pilgrim en route, the development of this pronounced theme, perceived through time, necessarily involves moments of conflict and resolution, challenges that must be overcome, storms that must be weathered in order to emerge strengthened. It is this experience, musically, in which I was interested while composing this work: the perseverance of a melody through different contexts, building musical character, inevitably producing hope. In other words, what better way to intensify light than to pit it against darkness? In this piece, musical optimism goes head-to-head with musical pessimism so that joy not only triumphs, but emerges deeper than when it began.
—Jacob Beranek