Inhalt:
The Highland/Etling Full Orchestra Series
Grade Level: 3
'Millennium,' recorded this year by Alfred for the first time, was first
released in 1998. Winner of the 1998 N.S.O.A. composition contest, this
contemporary-sounding overture is extremely powerful and full of emotion from
beginning to end. After a foreboding introduction, the heroic main theme is
introduced by the brass section in unison, accompanied by the entire
orchestra in a percussive, marcato style. A lyrical subordinate theme of
extreme beauty follows, first stated by unison cellos, then picked up by the
entire orchestra. The third and final section is a wild and energetic march,
pitting brass against woodwinds and strings, leading into a final, majestic
restatement of the main theme. Richard Meyer's colorful and imaginative
scoring features every section of the symphony orchestra, resulting in a
wonderfully mature-sounding, yet playable, 'tour de force' for the student
orchestra.