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Program Notes
Impact is an eight-minute work for large orchestra that explores an aural gesture best described as a heavy thud. This gesture, which opens the work in its clearest form, is a steep drop from the upper register of the orchestra to its depths. Each time the gesture plummets to the bottom, the impact of this arrival generates various “resonances” – shards of harmonic or melodic material that proceed to develop on their own, contributing to subsequent thuds and eventually blooming into more lyrical sections of music. Along the way, the thudding gesture is dissected, reversed, and fragmented before finally regaining its original form and prominence near the end. One giant, swirling thud brings the work to a rumbling close. — Charles Halka
Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (Live)
Marin Alsop, conductor
★★★★★
“The concert began with the West Coast premiere of Impact, composed in 2013 by Charles Halka. The program note and title were too technical and vague, respectively, to inspire high expectations, but the eight-minute piece proved to be a real gem. It began in the highest most delicate part of the percussion and proceeded to descend through the entire orchestra gaining more and more instruments and volume of sound until it hit bottom with—well—an impact. Alsop worked the orchestra like a movie camera, with wide-angles, close-ups (including solos) and midrange shots. Halka displayed a keen understanding of an orchestra’s essential resources and kept the imagery in sharp focus.”
2015 Cabrillo Festival - Photos by RR Jones
★★★★★
“Charles Halka’s “Impact” was a great piece to begin the program as it explored the extreme ranges of the instruments, both in their tonal range and in their dynamics.”