Symphony No. 1 in 20 Keys

About

Symphony No. 1 in 20 keys (“Letter to the World”) is a five-movement symphony for large orchestra which is the first symphony to cast the outer movements as scherzi. All movements use melodies which are derived from transcribed non-western or folkloric melodies. The second movement is a “conventional” sonata form and the third movement is a series of variations on an “original” melody suggested by the “fado” song-form of Portugal. The whole work as a whole uses “borrowed” melodies (or melodies suggested) from Spain, Afghanistan, Breton, Russia,Finland, Italy and Scotland.