Chains Like the Sea

Bernard Rands comments, ‘The first movement articulates its 10-minute duration with periodic pealing of bells beginning softly and on a single pitch, gradually increasing in volume and density to a final bellpeal chord of 28 pitches. Each bell toll is followed by a prolongation of its resonance, melodically and harmonically, in the orchestra. The suggestive imagery of the second movement is that of leaves caught in sunlight and formed into rivulets by gentle breezes and forceful winds. Beginning with a Ritornello which features complex rhythmic patterns on three trumpets, its opening appearance is skeletal but on each recognizable return (there are five of them) it is more elaborate in orchestral density which celebrates the extraordinary virtuosity of a great orchestra. Each of the three titles is taken from Dylan Thomas’s poem Fern Hill. The work is dedicated in admiration and gratitude to Lorin Maazel and the musicians of the New York Philharmonic.’