compositions
compositions
SINFONIA da CAMERA
second section - opening
Canadian Chamber Ensemble
Conductor: Raffi Armenian
Esprit Orchestra
Conductor: Alex Pauk
Duration: 11 minutes
Written: 1989
Premiered: May 5, 1989
by Canadian Chamber Ensemble
Conductor: Raffi Armenian
John Aird Centre Recital Hall
Waterllo, Canada
by Canadian Chamber Ensemble
Conductor: Raffi Armenian
John Aird Centre Recital Hall
Waterllo, Canada
- 2 Flutes
- 2 Oboes (English Horn)
- 2 Clarinets
- 2 Bassoons
- 2 Horns
- 2 off-stage horns (optional)
- Tam-tam
- Piano
- Strings (at least one Contrabass with low C string required)
Background
Sinfonia da Camera, was written in 1989. It was conceived to be performed in either an orchestral version with the full complement of the strings, or in a chamber version with single strings. It received its Canadian premiere by the Esprit Orchestra of Toronto and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble respectively, shortly after its completion.
Designed in one movement of approximately 11 minutes in duration, it breaks into three contrasting sections: fast, slow and fast. Norwegian folk melodies meshed into a chromatic fabric of the orchestral texture, gain prominence in the course of the piece. While the sound of the Tam-tam plays an unique role in the overall structural design, the presence of the horns seems to be suggestive. Their antiphonal playing seems to echo the effect of horn playing from the peaks of the mountains. Such was the case in Norway in 1987 during my stay there, an event which inspired this composition.
Perhaps this short paragraph from my notebook describes my thoughts behind the piece.
“A week later the mountains still echoed with the memory of the Easter festivities…the orchestra, the churchbells, the horncalls, folksongs, people’s laughter and chatter in a cacophony of sound and images resounding from the top of Norway’s Trysil Mountain. The wind whistled gently, the near silence was broken only by the distant sound of the town below, the road and the river. I thought again of the condition of human existence. It became dark and the wind was roaring.”
Press
“Where boldness is concerned, however, Peter Paul Koprowski's 1989 opus, Sinfonia da Camera, took the program's laurel wreath ...
Apparently inspired by memories of a Norwegian mountain Easter, the music didn't sound overtly descriptive, but its sometimes warm, sometimes frentic pages did convey the message of an individual voice."