D. J. Sparr
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THE FIRE AND THE WATER (2019)

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    • Chamber Music
    • Large Ensemble
    • Vocal
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orchestra
duration c. 4:44

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Picc, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 4 hn, 2 tpt, 2 tbn, btrbn, tuba, synth, timp, 3 perc+soundscape, strings
Duration 4:44 min.

REVIEW: NAPLES DAILY NEWS
We’re in love with the word “new” until it’s applied to classical music. “New” preceding a work in a classical concert program evokes the same enthusiasm a lobster has for boiling water.

The opening Masterworks concert of the Naples Philharmonic may have knocked a dent in that attitude Thursday with a work of its own commissioning, “The Fire and the Water.” Its world premiere opened the evening, and the work veritably floated the audience over Florida in a sub-five minute, heavily layered musical tableau. It even elicited several audience cheers for composer D.J. Sparr, who explained the Florida connection to his piece during the pre-concert talk.

Sparr jokes about himself as “an electric guitar player who went to a lot of fancy music schools.” But it’s given him a blessed sensitivity for orchestration. He elicited a primal sense of being aloft with a full string fill, an undercurrent of swooping flutes and a horn fanfare heralding the sunrise off its Atlantic coast.

We’ve come to hate the word “accessible,” but this work was that, and more.

Bill Holab Music

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