Sinfonía de Valencia is a symphony depicting four areas in Valencia, Spain. The first time I lived in Spain was in the small town of Buñol, about forty kilometers from Valencia. Our apartment was in the area of town called Plaza del Castillo, near an Eleventh Century Castle. As I was walking through the castle, as I did almost ever day, I would sometimes get the feeling that is was haunted with spirits that could have been there for nine hundred years. The second movement “La Tomatina” is a depiction of a local custom that has been celebrated in Buñol for about one-hundred years. On the last Wednesday of August, thousands of people crowd into the main street of town to throw tomatoes at each other for about one hour at midday. There are about one hundred thousand pounds of tomatoes that are dropped on the street by several trucks and historically dress in white for the activities. Afterward, everybody goes to the public outdoor showers while the fire department washes down the streets. Within about thirty minutes everything is back to normal. I start the third movement with “Pastoral” which highlights the string sections including solos for violin and cello. The woodwind and brass sections are next highlighted with various solos. The state of Valencia is on the coast of the Mediterranean with a coastline topography of plains. About twenty miles from the coast is a mountain range which not very high, but is very dramatic. I transition to the Las Montañas section as if we were climbing up to the top of the mountain. Like the solid castle structures portrayed in the first movement, these mountains have been a symbol of Valencia for centuries. Since they are hard to climb, a sense of pride and accomplishment would follow the top. The march-like theme theme of this movement depicts this.Near the end of the piece a short dramatic statement of a Valencian hymn is presented before the final statement.
Sinfonía de Valencia for Orchestra
Medium: Orchestra