ORLANDO JACINTA GARCÍA: the clouds receding into the mountains
for solo viola and chamber orchestra (2017)
World Premiere: Melia Watras, viola; Julia Tai, conductor; Seattle Modern Orchestra; April 14, 2018, The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA
Program Notes:
the clouds receding into the mountains was written during the summer of 2017 partially while on an artist’s residency at Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming. The title refers to both the spectacular scenery at the Ranch especially the cloud formations as well as to the continually receding aural materials heard throughout the work. As with much of my music that features a soloist with an ensemble/orchestra, the soloist’s part requires a great deal of control as the interpreter’s depth and beauty of tone is exposed throughout the work. The slow evolution of materials in an attempt to change the perception of time in the listener and the counterpoint between density, texture, timbre, register, and pacing are important aesthetic concerns. the clouds receding into the mountains, was written for violist Melia Watras and the Seattle Modern Orchestra for premiere in the spring of 2018 in Seattle, Washington. I want to thank Melia Watras for her assistance with making the solo viola part clearer and to her and the Seattle Modern Orchestra and their artistic directors Jeremy Jolley and Julia Tai for their continued interest in my work.
—Orlando Jacinto García