Michael Slayton

Orchestra 2(2+picc)22(2+bcl)2(2+cbsn) - 2221 - timp, 2 perc, pno - strings

Composer's Note:

The Second Prelude for Orchestra is part of a collection of nine such preludes, each corresponding to staple symphonic works of like numeration. For example, for this work I extracted various musical elements (an intervallic collection, a melodic contour, a rhythmic cell, etc) from the second symphonies of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler—elements which I have then embedded within the walls of the prelude. They are not intended as quotes, but more as subsurface (perhaps even subliminal) homage to well-known and oft-performed "Seconds." The projected end result is that this Second Prelude may be set in front of any of these Second Symphonies and feel at home there. 

In Roman mythology, Concordia is the goddess of communal agreement, of peace, of order--the divine personification of harmony. I used this imagery as a reminder that human beings are at their best when they seek societal harmony not through necessary agreement but through epitomizing the audacity to learn from each other.