MY SYMPHONIC POEMS

Orchestral Images

Mark John McEncroe

 

Many composers have very different goals in mind when they write something which probably changes from time to time, I cannot or will not speak for them. I came to composing later in life & as such wanted to express my thoughts & feelings of both my journey through life, the lesson’s learnt & the things that are important to me.

 

I’m not an academically trained composer/musician, as such it’s never been my aim to further the theoretical, intellectual or technical boundaries of music. I’m interested only in creating an emotional platform. I regard my works, both piano & orchestral works as musical paintings, describing as it were my thoughts on the subject suggested in the title of each of my works. I want people to think & feel about the subject matter in the title. I’m just not interested in writing material for performers to demonstrate their musical prowess or ego. There is plenty of that kind of music around anyway. For me too strong melodic content is of extreme importance even if that puts me at risk of being old fashioned or being one stuck in the romantic era. I don’t write to impress people only simply to make them feel something or reflect on their own lives.

 

This collection of Symphonic Poems fall into two basic categories:

 

A. Those that talk of the wonders of our natural world, bio diversity & the power of the seasons. I want to remind people that we are destroying this for the sake of greed & economic rationalism.

 

Summer’s Last Hurrah, That Old Indian Summer, Mid Autumns Deep Colours, Movements In The Night, An Early Autumn Morning, Deep In The Wilderness & A Celebration of The Natural World.

 

B. Those pieces that refer to life’s personal struggles

 

The Passing – A piece about the letting go of old ideas that don’t work for you any more. This is a difficult process. The version on this CD was reorchestrated & rerecorded in January 2016. The original was recorded in December 2013 & released on my Affirmations & Aspirations CD.  Both versions are recorded by the same orchestra & both conducted by Anthony Armore.

 

A Pageant At The County Fair was actually written as the second movement  from my second Symphonic Suite. It was taken out as there were many who thought that the whole Suite was too long. I took it out begrudgingly so here it is as a Symphonic Poem expressing the joys of those at a medieval county fair. I will one day record a performance of the whole second Symphonic Suite with this movement back in its rightful place.

 

Echoes From A Haunted Past is about those things from our past that come back from time to time till we have dealt with those issues. Another piece I wrote expressing that sentiment was Ghosts From The Past from my piano Reflections & Recollections Volume 1.

 

–Mark John McEncroe