PROGRAM LISTING

Fantasia en Amarillo (2005) Michael Gandolfi (b.1956)

PROGRAM NOTES

Fantasia en Amarillo (Fantasy in Yellow) was commissioned in 2004 by FleetBoston Celebrity Series and is dedicated to Sergey Schepkin, whose extraordinary pianistic and musical gifts I have long admired. At the request of Mr. Schepkin, several Boston area composers were commissioned to write works based on specific colors. When I was given my assigned color, yellow, I knew immediately that I would write a piece that is both energetic, owing to the high frequency of yellow light, and playful, which is my subjective interpretation of this color.
Fantasia en Amarillo consists of three main themes: a rapid triplet figure characterized by octave displacement, a duple figure in syncopated rhythm and a simple but bold melody surrounded by thick diatonic harmonies. The first two themes presented in fragmented form constitute an introduction that drives toward the first strong downbeat of the exposition and the presentation of the third theme. Two large development sections follow, bridged by transitions that are also developmental in nature. An expansive section, fragmented but lyrical in character, acts as a reinterpretation of the introduction before the ultimate return of the exposition leads to closure.

Michael Gandolfi

Download these notes as a Word document

Back to 'Selected Compositions, Scores and Audio Files' page (or hit your browser's back button)