Vortex, unleashed

Congratulations to the Oregon Symphony and to Carlos Kalmar for being willing to make the premiere of Tomas Svoboda's new work, Vortex, the focus of this concert series this weekend. The fact that they're willing to do this is a very hopeful sign that creating new work is a potentially marketable prospect. Let's do everything we can to make that the case!

As for Tom's new piece.....Vortex is aptly named, particularly with regard to the climactic ending. I love the way Tom creates the effect of an intensely long accelerando, preceded by a very masterful chorale in the middle section. This is apparent music, understandable on a first hearing, yet not simple. It portrays deeply felt emotions, great antipathy toward conflicts in the world. I'm always impressed with Tom's ability to write atonal music that still sounds like it should have key signatures. This unsettled harmonic language adds to the tension of the piece.....there are no easy resolutions here. Rhythmically (and to a large extent, harmonically), Tom's works remind me a lot of his teacher, Martinu. The clever development of simple rhythms is a trademark of contemporary Czech composers. You can take the composer out of Prague, but you can't take the Prague out of the composer........

This is a big event, for Tom and for our orchestra. Please come on down to the Schnitz and join us for a memorable concert this weekend!