Toccata for Orchestra
Instrumentation: 4444 / 433 / timp. / strings
Duration: 4 minutes, 30 seconds
Premiere Performance: Premiered by Sacramento Philharmonic, Mondavi Center for the Arts on the UC Davis campus with conductor Michael Morgan. Subsequent performance with Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vanska.
“These nine may be unknowns, but it’s hard to believe that they will retain that status — given the mix that their work demonstrated in talent, imagination and skill while painting on that huge canvas of the modern symphony orchestra. And surely there’s a touch of rock in the sheer energy of Kurt Erickson’s lighthearted Toccata for Orchestra”
PROGRAM NOTES
Toccata for Orchestra was originally written as a virtuoso organ work for the organist Allan Blasdale. Prior to writing the composition, I had written one quiet, introspective piece too many. With this new work, I wanted to write a BIG, FUN, EXTROVERTED work that was almost cartoon-like in nature. I wanted to create a piece that didn’t rely on an overabundance of subtlety. In short, I wanted to write in a style that at the time would not have been my first choice.
I’ve always felt that toccatas are the kind of pieces that composers have the most fun writing (and I as a pianist have had the most fun playing). They are the kind of pieces that are marked by a certain wild abandon and an almost boundless energy. Toccata for Orchestra was extremely pleasurable to write as it is big, athletic, and lends itself to my heavy poundings on the keyboard. It has no ambitions to seriousness—it is profoundly fun without any illusions of profundity.
SCORE
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