Program Notes

"New York Rhapsody is a large concertante structure in a single movement which holds strong programmatic attachment to the images of New York City. One will readily hear popular motifs (particularly 'I Hear a Rhapsody') and improvisatory gestures unfolding in an expansive rhapsodic atmosphere. The concertante element presents a virtuoso workout particularly as the work progresses as well as coloristic impressionist textures, emphasized by the timbre of the harp set against the oftentimes brilliance in the higher registers of the clarinet. The overall gesture of the rhapsody is embroidered in a giant arabasque-like web of swirling sound, set against introspective and distant evocations–memories of New York. "New York Rhapsody was commissioned by Richard Stoltzman and premiered by Richard Stoltzman and Nancy Allen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1987."

—William Thomas McKinley (© 1993)