Gilbertson is a native of Iowa who has studied at the Juilliard School in New York with some well-known composers, including John Corigliano, and who has garnered enviable success with American orchestras and awards committees. Characterized by the young composer as inspired by his encounter with images of New York City during the 1920s, this work is a dark reflection, indeed. The composer cites the \u201cArt Deco\u201d style of the times (a French style, essentially, and most call the American version \u201cDepression Modern\u201d), and expresses hope that its \u201cglamour and elegance\u201d is redolent in \u201cTragedy Tomorrow.\u201d Expanding the thought, he also cites George Gershwin as inspiration for the work, as well. Considering that the 1930s followed, the evocative title seems appropriate.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s essentially a modern tone poem, aspiring, as it does, to depict the imagery of something specific in the mind\u2019s eye. A mastery of understanding an orchestra\u2019s technical capabilities is important in composing works like tone poems, and this work has it. Cast into several continuous, contrasting sections, it opens with thunderous, spiky accents that intrude upon a floating, ominous atmospheric tension. Soon, there follows a driving, rhythmic\u2014almost motoric\u2014evocation of muscular, mechanical energy\u2014think, perhaps, of Bart\u00f3k. Interludes of quiet reflection appear from time to time, occasionally surprising you with lush evocations of\u2014Gershwin? A kind of plodding march follows\u2014perhaps these are the jobless lines after the stock market crash. Familiar ideas and sounds return, tying all together, and the dramatic conclusion seems a fitting end to this haunting cityscape.<\/p>\n
–Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2015 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[73],"class_list":["post-103","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-michaelgilbertson"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}