The Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist' was commissioned by individual donors, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (Massachusetts), and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (West Virginia), organized by pianist Jeffrey Biegel.
Compositional Technique
In 'Poems of Life,' the countertenor is the protagonist, the solo cello acts as the instrumental doppelgänger of the protagonist's spirit, and the solo English horn represents the spirit of the lost beloved.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Kenneth Fuchs's Piano Concerto, 'Spiritualist,' is the fourth work he composed inspired by the visual images of Helen Frankenthaler, an American abstract expressionist painter.
Recording & Production
This album represents the fifth disc of Kenneth Fuchs's music recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of JoAnn Falletta for Naxos American Classics, continuing a collaboration of over 30 years.
Composition History
Poems of Life, an orchestral song cycle, sets twelve poems from Judith G. Wolf's volume of poetry 'Otherwise,' with the composer Kenneth Fuchs introduced to Wolf by his lifelong friend JoAnn Falletta.
Compositional Technique
In the second movement of the Piano Concerto, 'Silent Wish,' the piano embraces a diatonic musical cryptogram including the pitches F-CH-S, derived from Kenneth Fuchs's surname and German letter names for two pitches.
Composition History
Glacier, a concerto for electric guitar and orchestra, was commissioned by the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and is inspired by the natural elements and sweeping vistas of Montana's Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
