JOHN D. GOTTSCH (b.1950): Sunset for Orchestra, Princess Yurievskaya for Violin, Cello, Harp and Orchestra.

Description: Gottsch spent his youth in the lake country of Florida, which instilled in him a love of nature that has informed his music ever since. His symphonic poem Sunset (2017) is almost cinematic in its opulence and in its depiction of both the beauty and fragility of Key West, and the area’s vulnerability to climate change. By contrast, the 37-minute tone poem Princess Yurievskaya (2018) charts the passionate love of Catherine Dolgorukova and Tsar Alexander II from their first meeting and eventual marriage, to his assassination. This vivid narrative is full of exciting dances and torrid romance, irradiated with evocative orchestral solos. Huifang Chen (violin), David Calhoun (cello), Leefei Chen Jenkins (harp), South Florida Symphony Orchestra; Sebrina María Alfonso.