Celebration Overture

Celebration Overture, James M. Stephenson (2010) 10'
for chamber orchestra

Written in celebration of the 48th Anniversary season of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Edward Benyas, conductor and premiered in September of 1999

In the fall of 1999, I was contacted by my good friend Edward Benyas, with a request to compose a new work to celebrate the 48th anniversary of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, for a concert he would be conducting.

The piece needed to be completed in 2 weeks, needed to feature the timpanist, and would be used to celebrate a 48th anniversary.
Though it was a challenge to write this piece in only 2 weeks, I have very fond memories of sitting on the porch of a cabin in Northern Michigan, overlooking a lake, while writing this work.

The reason for featuring the timpanist for the concert was because he was a mutual friend and would be driving a good deal to get to the performance. In order to play the concert, he would be driving hours from one gig, unloading timpani, then driving elsewhere, playing another job, then driving back to the first, playing, reloading timpani, etc… In other words, I needed to reward him with a good part for all of the extra hassles he’d be going through just to play the concert.

The 48th anniversary dedication presented a rather fun challenge and inspiration. Puns and symbolism have always been a part of my “game” when writing music, and so I took advantage of whatever I could with the number 48 (or 48th) when composing this piece. For example, the piece opens with a flurry of 40 eighth-notes in the strings (I was going to go for 48 notes, but it didn’t work, so I settled for forty 8th notes instead). Additionally, the harmonic structure of the piece is almost entirely built upon a minor 7th chord; this is because when one counts up 4 semi-tones from the root of the chord, and then another 8, the resulting notes spell out most of a minor 7th chord. [Example: C up to E-flat, and then again up to B-flat]. Lastly, the one of the main themes is a very catchy tune written to the time signature of 4/8.

Of course, all of the games and symbolism are fruitless unless the piece stands on its own musically. This is first and foremost with every piece I write, and I am pleased to say that this piece was a joy and honor to compose, and to present to the Chicago Chamber Orchestra for its premiere that September of 1999.

Instrumentation: *2222 – 2210 – t -pf – hp – str

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