Saturday, March 5, 2011

Twilight of the Gods

Twilight of the Gods is a programmatic work depicting the story of Ragnarok from Scandinavian mythology. The 2010 commission consortium, with 26 university and community bands, was organized by the Western and Northwestern divisions of the College Band Directors National Association. University of New Hampshire professor and composer Andrew Boysen Jr. created this exciting and dynamic piece for symphonic band. The story starts with a relentless winter leading to a series of civil wars across the earth, and concluding with a great battle between the gods and their adversaries, resulting in their deaths and the destruction of the earth. The earth then rises once more, new gods take control of the heavens, and the human race is born again through two survivors. (Source: JRO)