The Island of Life
Fanfare for Orchestra
2023 | 3 minutes
Commissioned by the Seven Hills Symphony, Cincinnati, OH
SCORING 3(pic). 3(Eh). 3(bcl). 3(cbsn) / 6331 / timp+2 pec / hp / str
PREMIERE Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra conducted by AikKhai Pung, March 19, 2023, Walnut Hills High School Auditorium, Cincinnati, OH
Listen
Arnold Böcklin The Island of Life (Die Lebensinsel) 1888
Program Notes
I was asked to compose The Island of Life for this Seven Hills Symphony concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth, a program that also features his symphonic poem Isle of the Dead, inspired by the Swiss Symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin’s famous oil painting of the same name.
In 1888, Böcklin painted another version of the “Island,” one largely free of despair and terror. The Island of Life (Die Lebensinsel) depicts a utopian world filled with joy, vitality, and serenity. Conceived as a tribute to Rachmaninoff—and as the other side of the same coin—this work responds to the somber, shadowed atmosphere of Isle of the Dead. Where Rachmaninoff’s symphonic poem concludes in A minor, The Island of Life ultimately resolves in A major, affirming renewal, warmth, and life.
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