This symphony was inspired by the beauty and power of Germany’s majestic Bodensee (Lake Constance) and the high peaks of the Bavarian Alps. It was written over a period of two years, from March 2023 until November 2024 and blends traditional orchestral instruments with more modern synthesizers, acoustic & electronic drums, world percussion and electric guitar, plus a few other things.

Each movement is a story in and of itself. Together they paint a larger picture. The music is a conversation, moving from one narrator to another.

Movement 1: Sanguine dance
The excitement of the Unknown as one heads off on a journey. It is in sonata format, beginning in the key of E major and then moving through different keys and time signatures. The feeling you get when you first drive onto the highway or as the train leaves the station. This is the dance of hopefulness.

Movement 2: Stormy dance
This joy becomes tempered by the foreboding feeling of approaching storms. The ominous vibe is interrupted by a brilliant, yet short glimpse of the sunset as the clouds briefly part. We head for shelter. The clouds race down from the mountains, seemingly in all directions at once. This is the dance of turbulence.

Movement 3: Festive dance
The celebration after the storm. It’s nighttime and we are outside again, perhaps a little inebriated and celebrating the vitality of the freshly watered forest. The air is clean in the way it can only be after a storm. But take care, there are also ancient spirits out and about. An upbeat waltz in F# major. This is the dance of joviality.

Movement 4: Dramaturgical dance
The finale greets the new day with joy and optimism. Starting in E-flat major, the inner balance we feel from our time in pristine nature morphs into a lament of dismay as we return to this hard, concrete world of modern humanity. This is the dance of the operatic.