Program note

Fanfare and Theme is a study piece for me. In it, I try out a very different style of composition, really more intended for a movie of the 1940s or even earlier. The main theme, heard immediately after the brass chorus, is based on Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s excellent ouverture to King’s Row. A second theme, much quieter, is not inspired by anything that I heard, really it was created by sticking weird harmonies together.

The orchestration of this composition is pretty standard, except for the string section, which is much larger. An interesting texture is created by layering violins playing the same melody legato and tremolo. This is a technique I observed in some of Korngold’s cinematic pieces.