Cinematic Escapades

Cinematic Escapades was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the Linn-Mar High School Orchestra (Marion, IA), Joshua Reznicow, Director. Each of the three movements conveys imagery associated with movie tropes without referencing specific films; it is music for a movie of the mind. "Adventure on the High Seas" musicaly evokes swashbuckling pirate movies. "Extraterrestrial Experience" is a more benign and heartfelt meeting of earthling and alien; its "other worldliness" comes from its odd five-beat meter and harmonies that are tonal but unsettled until the end. The last movement, "The Runaway Train Incident," is a staple of everything from old west serials of the 1940s to movies about adventurous archeologists. The instrumentation is a bit unusual as it calls for string orchestra with "just a touch" of percussion timpani, snare drum, bells, and suspended cymbal.