instrumentation:
2.picc.2.3(III=bcl).2—4.4.4(IVopt).1—timp.perc(3)—harp—pft—strings
duration: 6:40
Program note
This work was commissioned by the American Jazz Philharmonic to
celebrate the inaugural season of the Henry Mancini Institute, its
summer training program for outstanding young musicians. The
premiere was given by the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra under
my direction, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach,
on August 16, 1997. The work’s title summarizes its content: it
was intended as a jubilant curtain-raiser. A fast, rhythmic
fanfare theme for four trumpets opens the work, and leads to a
processional-like section with a repeated three-note motto, first
played by four horns. The fanfare theme returns and leads to the
central section, in 7/8 meter, dominated by a furiously fast
repeated piano figure and sharp accents from the full orchestra.
The rhythmic energy subsides, and there follows a lyrical passage,
led by the oboe playing a melody which has blossomed from the
earlier three-note horn motto. The return of the opening trumpet
fanfare leads to the work’s jubilant ending. This has proved by
far the most popular of my works in terms of radio play, with
hundreds of performances on dozens of radio stations since the
recording’s release in 2001. It was also the first of my works to
be played by one of the major American orchestras, with the Dallas
Symphony’s 2002 performances, for which I made some minor
revisions to the work.
Performance history
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Premiered by the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, with members of the American Jazz Philharmonic, conducted by the composer, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach, August 16, 1997
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Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra premiere broadcast on KLON-FM, Long Beach, August 1997
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Performed by the Wheeling Symphony, Rachael Worby, conductor, November 19, 1998
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Performed by the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, conducted by the composer, at Royce Hall, UCLA, August 13, 2000
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Performed by the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, Rachael Worby, conductor, August 24 & 25, 2001
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Performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Richard Kaufman, conductor, at Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, January 11, 12 & 13, 2002
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Performed by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Raymond Harvey, conductor, April 19, 2002
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Performed by the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Atherton, conductor, September 22, 2002
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Performed by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Steichen, conductor, July 2 & 3, 2004
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Performed by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor, October 16, 2004
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Performed by the Huntington (WV) Symphony Orchestra, Kimo Furumoto, conductor, June 25, 2005
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Recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, at Abbey Road Studios, London, January 2 & 3, 2001; released on compact disc by Koch International Classics (#7523), June 2001
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LSO/Koch recording broadcast on dozens of radio stations throughout United States since its release, including KING, Seattle; WRR, Dallas; WABE, Atlanta; KRTS, Houston; WNED, Buffalo; KSJN, St. Paul; KFUO, St. Louis; WWFM, Trenton
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LSO/Koch recording broadcast on Classic FM (national United Kingdom broadcast), December 5, 2001
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Dallas Symphony Orchestra performance broadcast on WRR, Dallas, January 14, 2002
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Kalamazoo Symphony performance broadcast on WMUK, Kalamazoo, April 2002
“Boyer’s stated reverence for film composers…is clearly palpable in Celebration Overture.
The opening Korngoldian fanfare for four trumpets has an epic silver-screen sumptuousness.
…This is a marvelous curtain-raiser…”
—South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 2002
“The sparkling Celebration Overture…composed by 32-year-old Peter Boyer, lit up the
stage with musical pyrotechnics…”
—Kalamazoo Gazette, April 2002
