Composer Evan Ware uses his music to create sounds of hope from a childhood of trauma; not focus on victimhood per se, but to show that there can be recovery from the dark.
These two symphonies are performed by the AEPEX Contemporary Performance, conducted by Kevin Fitzgerald. Sympnohy No. 1 features sustained and stirring strings swaying to and fro, with moments of ambience giving way to percussive elements not unlike something you’d expect from the best of Gershwin. The journey is reminiscent of ambling through various small walkways in a Mediterranean city.
Symphony No. 2 is a five part piece with three of them including texts by Jane Hirshfield sung by soprano Amy Petrongelli. Petrongelli is joined by chimes on “Begin Again” and sparkling percussion during ”The Fire” that gives hints of Mahlerian moments, with “Turn Over” a harrowing meld of voice and strings. The strings and percussion of “Prologue” is deft and subtle, while “The Crossing” sounds like the rhythm of a train track crossing, with the woodwinds hovering around the declaration of “Night Music”. Healing harmonies.