Tone Poem

A musical work should progress in a way that reveals itself to the listener as a meaningful sequence of events – or “story.” For my composition Tone Poem I choose the traditional symphony orchestra as a collective narrator, since it is a known voice that has resonated successfully in concert halls for hundreds of years. While the plot of my short story (or poem) is fundamentally abstract, I strove to paint in sound using a collection of pitches inherently capable of generating a wide variety of musical gestures, phrases, and statements. The larger components were then assembled to form self-consistent, extended spans of music. For maximal variety and contrast, I drew upon a number of musical techniques, varying degrees of orchestral density, color, texture, and tempi to articulate standard elements in a meaningful coordinated progression of new musical ideas. Some sections of the piece continue the dialogue in their own way, building on, or reflecting upon, previous material framed in a new perspective. The listener may hear inter-connections, stark contrasts, layering, instrumental solos, and reoccurrences of harmonies or themes - such as long descending chromatic lines which are prevalent throughout the piece. Some cadences are accompanied by a reoccurring figure in the timpani or trumpets. Other fleeting themes may more subtly reappear in new contexts without much fanfare or explicit recapitulation (e.g. in the English horn). The overall intensity and orchestral fire reach higher when a discerning pulse gives rise to a dance-like frenzy of irregularly metered periodicity, followed by a wall of quickly ascending sound.

My piece is influenced by, and indebted to, the great orchestral works of prior generations – including the American Modernists, Second Viennese School, and 19th Century Romantics. Tone Poem is approximately 15 minutes in duration, but it took a year and a half of intensive work to commit to paper. I dove into the project in June of 2001 without any performance prospects or commission, but maintained my compositional focus until the piece was completed in December of 2002. The horrible events of September 11th struck as my piano sketches were nearing their originally intended final bar-line. The reality of this tragedy first stymied me, but eventually gave rise to an additional concluding section that functions as an Epilogue to the entire work and stands in relief to the relative complexity of the material preceding it.

The Epilogue begins with tranquil, soft, meditative music in the upper solo strings. However, it reluctantly builds and regains some semblance of the prior music - albeit as a transformed romantic recollection of things past. In an attempt to restore order to the shattered musical and physical universe, the pitches B A C H (B-flat, A-natural, C-natural, B-natural) are played in the upper voice of four short brass chords (doubled on percussion), and soon again in the highest of several solo strings sounding in the stratosphere. The piece concludes as it finds its way back to terra firma, winding down, dimming, and ending on a tentative degree of stasis. 

-JR

----------------

“Tone Poem confirms that you are a long line composer in the Sessions tradition, have superfine ears for harmony and harmonic progression, pay attention to voice leading, and are good at dramatic structures...” - David Rakowski, Composer, Brandeis University

"James Ricci is a composer with a fertile imagination. His work 'Tone Poem' exhibits a mastery of form, orchestration, and harmonic movement. The final Epilogue is a heart-wrenching remembrance of 9/11. The variety of texture, orchestration, and dynamics excite the ear throughout. The piece should receive the excellent performance it deserves."  - the late Robert Ceely, Composer, New England Conservatory

"Vienna lives. I was continually made to think of Sezession, the Wiener Werkstaette, and the more elaborately patterned paintings of Gustav Klimt. I'd love to hear a live performance. Good luck with it: it deserves it." - the late Ezra Sims, Composer, Cambridge MA

“You are, in my estimation, an extremely talented and sensitive composer. Your orchestral work is incredibly detailed, imaginative and beautiful.”

           - the late Peter Lieberson, Composer, Santa Fe NM

“Tone Poem is a very impressive accomplishment. An extremely complex orchestral texture, filled with choice details, is placed in the service of a large-scale musical statement that in the end is quite moving. It deserves a performance.”

           - the late Martin Boykan, Composer, Brandeis University

"A remarkably beautiful work -- elegantly crafted and strikingly orchestrated"

           - the late Donald Martino, Composer, Harvard University

“I agree with my colleagues that your ‘Tone Poem’ is a remarkable work, and I already had decided to nominate it for an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters…”  - the late Milton Babbitt, Composer, The Juilliard School

                       & Princeton University (Emeritus)