Portraits of Colorado: The Making of A Modern American Symphony

Product Description DVD pressing. When Emmy-award winning composer Charles Denler was commissioned by the Colorado Symphony to write a modern symphony based on the beauty of the Colorado he immediately had a clear vision for where he wanted to go with the music. A film-score composer by trade, this score would be inspired by images of towering snow capped mountains, morning sunrises of shimmering pinks and sunsets of peach and dark red... deep blue carpets of summer Columbines stretching across the massive mountain landscape and fall Aspens afire with gold and red... and the sounds of crashing waterfalls, the hoof beats of wild horses running the plains and the magical silence of a gentle snowfall. All this put to music. To boost his inspiration Charles discovered the work of renowned landscape painter Jerry Malzahn, who specialized in Colorado landscapes. Mr. Malzahn notable work has found it's home in The White House, United States Navel Academy... to name a few... and now his work and Charles music would find symbiotic inspiration. Richly performed by the respected Colorado Symphony and Chorus and conducted by Scott O Neil, "Portraits of Colorado" is what Colorado sounds like. Music produced by Steve Greisen. Review The Film Portraits of Colorado is a virtual feast for the senses, a visceral masterpiece. It invited me to truly experience the story of a symphony and the sound of the Rocky Mountains. The mesmerizing teamwork of artists and technicians led by Charles Denler, Scott O'Neill, and Steve Greisen beckoned me beyond the mere passive posture of listening to a performance or watching a film. In addition to witnessing the authentically human journey of a composer, I lingered with the smell of wildflowers, inhaled the mist of a canyon waterfall, felt the rumbling of a running herd of buffalo, and squinted as mountain peaks relinquished a sunrise.Further, I was invited into the dance that happens when humanity embraces the beauty of nature, and nature actually returns the gesture with the sum of the impact being far greater than the individual parts. The majesty of the music and images partnered to amplify our ability as human beings to enter into the heart-nourishing power of Beauty. --Matt Heard / Author It has been over 20 years since my last trip to Colorado, but this music paints a vivid and deeply affectionate picture of the incredible beauty on display there. I purposefully declined to read the movement titles, to try and allow the music to talk. It does, and clearly. Each movement is under five minutes, but every one has a distinct character, with a majestic and touching theme running through the entire piece. It's very much in keeping with Denler's need to appeal to the masses. Part traditional symphony, with echoes of a film score, the solo contributions, choral work, and additional instrumentals are all superb. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Chorus pour their hearts into this music, and the sonic quality is naturally as clear and crisp as mountain air. The six variations for violin and piano share the same theme as the symphony, and are lovingly rendered by Hwang-Williams and the composer. --Brian Wigman/ Classical.net You can almost see the red sunsets, the golden clouds scudding across the Rocky Mountain skies, the icy rivulets running through alpine valleys, the wild horses running in slow motion and smell the high pine forests, such is the pictorial, film-score quality of the 28-minute Portraits, and rightly so since Denler is a well-established and award-winning composer of scores for films, documentaries, television programs and themes for television networks and programs. --Records International
ASIN: B013PPYH0A
VSKU: DBV.B013PPYH0A.N
Condition: New
Author/Artist:Charles Denler
Binding: Dvd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.