Reflections:
Four Movements on a Theme of Wallace Stevens
I.The Holy Hush
II.Unsubdued Elations
III.Isle Melodious (Remembrance of Awakened Birds)
IV.Where Triumph Rang Its Brassy Phrase
Instrumentation: 1-2-1-2,2-1-0-0, 1 perc, pf, str Duration: 21 minutes
"Reflections: Four Movements on a Iheme by Wallace Stevens...proved a gracious and well-made piece,
agreeable in every respect... [It] takes it inspiration from a literary text: Each of its four
movements is a musical reflection of a phrase trom Sunday Morning, the famous Stevens poem.
Paulus explains in a program note that he chose the phrases not for their relevance to the poem
but for their power to suggest moods and images that might be expressed musically."
--Roy M. Close, St Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch
"Not only was... Stephen Paulus called back several times at the Ordway Music Theatre Friday night but a
sizable portion of the audience gave him a standing ovation... .Paulus's music seems to echo and revivify an earlier tradition,
not of 19th-century Romanticism but of the American
concert music of the 1930s: Howard Hanson, Virgil Thomson,
Aaron Copland in his more populist vein. The open spaces in the music, the rhythmic drive, the lean but pungent
lyricism, the sparing use of dissonance against a tonal background...the work is essentially reflective and elegiac--at times
nostalgic--in tone, as is the poem. The subtle percussion effects, the wispy little oboe glissandos..
the soaring flight of the solo violin... are just a few of the satisfactions of Paulus's piece........... "
--Michael Anthony, Minneapolis Star and Tribune
Publisher: European American Music
Recordings: Promotional recording available
Performances: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, The Ann Arbor Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Oklahoma City, Hinsdale Chamber Orchestra, Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra
Written as a tribute to conductor C. William Harwood
Commissioned by grants from the Northwest Area Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts,
and the Composers Commissioning Program administered by the Minnesota Composers Forum
World Premiere: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, March 22, 23, 24, 1985 Conductor: Pinchas Zukerman
