| Instrumentation: | 1+Picc.222 / 2221 / timp+3perc / str |
| Duration: | 4' |
| Year Composed: | 1997 |
| Notes: | Also available as a transcription for piano. |
David Currie & Robert Rival discuss Overture at a rehearsal at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa, March 2000. Photos by Peter Lindell.
I composed this overture, my first work for orchestra, when I was a 21-year-old music student. It was premiered in November 1997 by David Currie and the University of Ottawa Orchestra, an ensemble in which I had formerly played the violin. Currie later performed it with the Ottawa Symphony on two different seasons. After one performance, an audience member told me this boisterous Allegro con spirito reminded her of a busy train station. Another said he imagined walking around a market, its vendors competing for his attention as he passed by their stalls. Although I had no program in mind when writing the piece both images strike me as apt. Now strident, now cheerful, now bright and energetic, now dark and powerful, now playful and witty, in four short minutes Overture takes the listener from a biting opening through a whirlwind of change to a triumphant close.
—R.R.
“Reminiscent of the outer movements of Shostakovich's 'jolly' symphony, the ninth ... [Overture] is solid, engaging and a good listen.”
— Ottawa Citizen
“A brisk and bounding overture.”
— Toronto Star
“pleasant curtain-raiser”
— Ottawa Citizen
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