Symphony No. 4 “Gateway Festival Symphony”

Gateway Festival Symphony, 2013, is written for and dedicated to Dr. James Richards and the Gateway Festival Orchestra for their 50th Jubilee Anniversary.

I. Confluencity depicts the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers with the ebb and flow of two rivers playing and colliding, producing turbulence in early spring with melting snows and winds that whip the waters into a dangerous, dramatic frenzy. Other themes portray the waters as calm, with sparkling serenity. The themes interact, alternate and fuse before coming to the affirmation that the rivers will always be a life source.

II. Sunset: St. Louis is inspired by Sara Teasdale’s poem, Sunset: Saint Louis. The themes reflect the structure and majesty of the city’s natural and historic monuments coupled with the city’s myriad cultural influences. The movement begins with the slow languidness of the hot St. Louis summers. A slow tango intertwines with a rippling water theme.

III. After Forever begins with a dramatic trumpet call-to-arms, reminding us of the struggle that Dred and Harriet Scott waged to win their independence. Their struggle helped catapult the United States into the Civil War. Of all the states, Missouri was the third in recorded battles and engagements, and that does not take into account the unrecorded guerilla warfare, which defined so much of the state’s involvement. This movement reflects the pivotal role Missouri played in the Civil War, and the lasting, enduring strength of its people.