Nobel Symphony – Steve Heitzeg

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Composer: Steve Heitzeg

Text by: Samuel Beckett, Pablo Neruda, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Albert Camus, Toni Morrison, Amartya Sen, Paul Samuelson, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Eli Wiesel, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rigoberto Menchú, Dag Hammarskjold, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela

Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, baritone, children's choir, SATB Chorus and Orchestra: 3 (pic)-3-3-3/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, piano/strings 

Duration: Approx. 75 minutes

Date Written: 2001

Premiered by:    

Patricia Snapp, mezzo soprano; Becky Smith, child soprano; Michael Jorgensen, baritone; The Gustavus Choir, Gregory Aune, conductor; Christ Chapel Choir, Patricia Kazarow, conductor; Lucia Singers, Patricia Snapp, conductor; The Metropolitan Boys Choir, Bea Hasselmann, director; The Mankato Children’s Choir, Julie Aunt, conductor; The Gustavus Orchestra, Warren Friesen, conductor; Steven C. Wright, trumpet fanfares. Gustavus Adolphus College, Christ Chapel, Saint Peter, MN, October 2, 2001    

Re-staged in 2004 by VocalEssence, Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director

Lisa Drew, mezzo soprano; Michael Jorgensen, baritone; VocalEssence Chorus, Philip Brunelle, artistic director/conductor; Minnesota Boychoir, Mark Johnson, director; Gustavus Adolphus College Symphony Orchestra; Charles Lazarus, trumpet fanfares With new media work by Minneapolis College of Art and Design Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN, April 18, 2004

This film excerpt from the “Peace” movement is from the 2004 performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis
Film by Piotr Szyhalski

Commissioned: Gustavus Adolphus College to commemorate the Centennial of the Nobel Prizes

Additional Information: In the Nobel Symphony, I have included several world instruments (including Tibetan singing bowls, Tibetan horns, Tibetan prayer chimes, djembe, talking drum, small elephant bells, African bottle and sisal rattles, and kalimba), naturally-found instruments (stones, bean pods, gourds, fallen olive tree branches, kernels of organic corn and sea shell wind chimes) and alternative percussion instruments (aluminum foil, Audubon birdcall, chopsticks, hardbound books, metal tablespoons, empty metal soup can, plastic bubble pack, plowshare, prosthetic leg limbs, and wooden spoons). These instruments, in conjunction with the standard orchestral instruments, serve as a sonic metaphor for the diverse cultures and voices in the world. Because world peace and progress require the contributions of all peoples globally, I have, in my orchestration, selected texts and dedicatory passages, tried to achieve inclusion of all voices. This symphony is intended to honor all.

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