The Symphony, composed in 2004, is the final part of a triptych titled Prophetic Visions: Meditation on Our Times, which also includes a Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra (2001) and a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2002).

The concept of a trilogy traces back to an earlier work, Music for Organ and String Orchestra, composed between 1959 and 1962, and revised in 1992. Originally intended as the first part of Prophetic Visions: Meditations on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, this music was later adapted and reorchestrated to become the second movement of the Symphony. There is no indication that the composer had conceived the other two parts at that earlier time.

The first movement sets the severe tone of the Symphony, opening with a menacing tutti reminiscent of the beginning of Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony. The four-note motif introduced at the outset—a minor second (E-F) followed by a minor third (E-C#)—is employed throughout the Symphony in various forms. Following the introduction, the exposition begins with a fugato theme in the strings that builds intensity to a climax. A solo bassoon then begins developing the motif, which is subjected to numerous transformations by the whole orchestra. After a brief relaxation in tempo, the lower strings reintroduce the agitato mood from the beginning, leading to a reprise of the main theme that concludes the movement on a triumphant note.

The second movement is divided into three sections—Prelude, Toccata, and Elegia—as they were named in Music for Organ and String Orchestra. Like the first movement, the thematic material is largely based on minor seconds and thirds. The E-F minor second is prominently featured throughout the Prelude and violently interrupts the Toccata before dissolving into an eerie string fugue (Elegia) that concludes the movement.

The third movement opens with an augmented chord motif in dotted rhythms. A violent transition follows, leading into a restless scherzo, with a second subject played by the strings that is a legato version of the main motif. After a tortuous and intense development, the tempo subsides, and the movement concludes with an exhausted coda based on the second subject, bringing the movement to a quiet but tense ending.

The fourth movement begins with contrapuntal calls in the trumpets and horns, featuring quartal harmonies that the orchestra develops into a Hindemith-like march. This material is interwoven with the main motif and thoroughly developed in various episodes, one of them being a fugue played by the strings. The development progresses and intensifies, culminating in a loud chord that releases all the remaining energy of the music. Two solo passages, one for violin and another for flute, bring the movement to an inconclusive end.

The final movement, Elegia, revisits unresolved elements from the previous movements: the tension of the F-E minor second, the slow and brooding counterpoint, the main theme, now mournfully intoned by the English horn, and impressionistic textures based on minor thirds. Suddenly, the orchestra reduces to a pianissimo rumble (bass drum and wind machine) as a solo flugelhorn, played offstage, intones a contemplative chant. As in the Sinfonietta No. 2, Milano uses the flugelhorn to symbolize a prophetic voice. The strings resume the dark and pensive counterpoint until the Symphony’s first passage in a major key emerges—a fleeting moment of hope—before the “prophet” reappears. The Symphony concludes with a radiant, yet muted, D major chord over which the flugelhorn has the final word.

The most apparent influence on Milano’s Symphony writing is Ralph Vaughan Williams. However, Milano achieves a motivic economy and formal conciseness that go beyond his model. Similarly as the English master, Milano often concludes movements with slow epilogues, lending the work a meditative, introspective character.

The Symphony is dedicated to Ludmila Ulehla, his composition teacher at the Manhattan School of Music.

Emanuel Olivieri