Red Garuda (1999)

Lieberson's RED GARUDA is an illustrative symphonic poem with a prominent piano part. [The] garuda is a magical bird that features in Hindu and other mythologies. Lieberson imagined himself carried on the back of such a bird, over volcanic fire, an enormous lake and a mountain range. The heavy regular rhythm of the beating wings keeps reappearing from different instruments or groups - a horn, the strings, the solo piano - and the percussion often add chinks and tinkles suggestive of movement in the feathers made of unearthly copper. After an introductory section, one hears the fire, quite light and delicate in its energy, the calm water (a slow progression of chords) and the mountain winds. It is, for sure, beautifully scored and speaks of excitement.

Like a dinner party invitation, a world premiere is an exciting event. Ask Peter Lieberson whose RED GARUDA was premiered in Boston by pianist Peter Serkin, conductor Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony. Lieberson's new concerto, 24 minutes in four connected movements, hazily depicts an imagined journey on the back of a "red garuda," a mythical bird. Riding on his back, Lieberson surveys elemental landscapes. Each element becomes a variation, opening with a peaceful night. There's plenty to catch the ear, from tubular bells sounding an ominous, syncopated call to the wide whoosh of the enormous bird's flapping wings, an image passed around the sections of the orchestra. The muscular, jabbing solo piano acts as a commentator, sometimes instigator. Variations on fire, water and earth-wind are moodier, made vivid by declarative percussion statements, often colored with a tinge of the Orient. The concerto is melodic, dramatic and crisply modern-sounding... Lieberson convincingly builds grand statements, then, effortlessly, relaxes and understates the climax.