tracks

Timelapse Variations
Light Cathedral
The Promised Burning

notes

Symphony Number One is devoted not only to commissioning and premiering substantial works by emerging composers, but also to recording and distributing these works for the public. In 2015, we recorded our debut album, followed by an EP, Emergence, each of which featured a stunning work for chamber orchestra by a compelling compositional voice. Now, for the first time, we are releasing a full-length album exclusively featuring emerging composers. More represents the best of Symphony Number One: three stimulating new works for chamber orchestra by a slate of three of the next generation's most promising voices, all lovingly prepared and performed in Baltimore.

—Jordan Randall Smith

The Composers Speak:

Timelapse Variations, for chamber orchestra, was written for Jordan Randall Smith and Symphony Number One. The time-lapse technique in film allows for a curious perception of change and growth. Visuals are sped up, but the overall effect is a glacial reflection on transition. Timelapse Variations is inspired by this technique and is therefore a meditation on the passage of time. The piece offers a sweeping soundscape, with several sections, all incorporating a variety of processes of gradual change.

—Natalie Draper

The guiding image of Light Cathedral is of a massive structure, heavy and earthbound – yet instead of stones or bricks, the building blocks are shafts of weightless, colorful light. The work evokes the psychological journey of a visitor to this cathedral: initially viewing its structure from the outside, we move inward and zoom in on the details; we visit the crypt deep in the depths; we become ecstatically swept up in the vertiginous central dome; and finally we reflect on the emotional experience of the journey.

—Jonathan Russell

Inspired by the Sabbath poems of writer and activist Wendell Berry, The Promised Burning is a musical representation of man-made environmental destruction and the profound grief that future generations will feel en masse when the effects of this destruction are painfully obvious. It is a call to awaken from the delusions that we are separate from the Earth and that its resources and ecosystems are expendable tools in our fruitless attempts to satisfy our greed.

—Andrew Posner

Recorded live in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland in 2016.

Symphony Number One is Baltimore's newest chamber orchestra, performing substantial works by emerging composers alongside riveting masterworks, beloved classics, and a twist of pop. Symphony Number One brings together great composers of the past, virtuoso performers of the present, and the leading compositional voices of the future, creating electrifying concert experiences for all of Baltimore.

Praised for presenting, "full-length freshness on each program," by The Baltimore Sun, the orchestra was founded in 2015 by Music Director Jordan Randall Smith after recruiting a creative team of colleagues from the Peabody Conservatory: Nicholas Bentz, Sean Meyers, Melissa Lander, and Christopher Ciampoli. In one year's time, Symphony Number One has premiered new works of over a dozen composers, released two "must get" albums, and performed at Baltimore's inaugural Light City Festival. The orchestra was also highlighted in Baltimore STYLE as "brazen...like an indie rock band," featured on the acclaimed television show MPT Artworks, granted the "Category Buster" award by Baltimore Magazine for their Best of Baltimore 2016, and chosen as runner-up for Baltimore's Best Band in this year's 2016 Best of Baltimore Reader's Poll. Symphony Number One has been recognized twice by Women's Philharmonic Advocacy and is the recent recipient of a Balitmore Social Innovation Fellowship by the Warnock Foundation.

Symphony Number One develops close working relationships with young and emerging composers, gives new works multiple hearings, produces substantial recordings, and creates unique concert experiences for the public by juxtaposing new music with the classical canon. Learn more at www.symphonynumber.one.

Special Thanks: Light Street Presbyterian Church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, St. Ignatius Catholic Church, The Center Club, Women's Philharmonic Advocacy, Debbie Harris, Kevin Bonner, Nancy Sloane, Jessica Galang, Jessica Abel, Barry Richmond, Joel Puckett, Janan Broadbent, Marie-France Scott, Mathias Cocuron, Kate Cruz Flores, Karena Ingram, Taylor Hillary Boykins, Jonathan Hugendubler, Susan Summers, Chelsea Clough, Stephen Czarkowski, and Bob Glock.

credits

Co-producer – Jordan Randall Smith
Photography By – Fletcher (23)
Producer – Dan Rorke
Recorded By – Charles Street Sound

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