compositions
Canyon
A dramatic episode for orchestra
1988

Info

18′

Music by Philip Glass.
Published by Dunvagen Music Publishers.

Commission

Commissioned by the Voorheen ADM Oudegracht, The Netherlands.

Instrumentation

2.pic.2.2.2/4.3.2.btbn.1/pf/timp.8 perc (SD, TD, BD, t.bells, glsp maracas, 4wdbl, tgl, tamb, ratchet)/ pno/ str, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl in Bflat, 4hn in F, 2 trmb, bass trmb, tuba, strings (2vn, vla,vc, db) glock, maracas, snare dm, t dm, bass dm, 4 or 6 timpani, piano

Premiere

October 18, 1988 by the Rotterdam Philharmonic conducted by Reinbert de Lieuwe.

Notes

The Canyon is the second piece of a series of symphonically conceived “portraits of nature” (preceded by The Light and followed by Itaipu). The composition does not refer to a particular canyon; it is based on an idealized canyon of the imagination.

Scores

The Canyon at Wise Music Classical

Related

RECORDINGS:
Itaipu / The Canyon on Sony Masterworks