SYMPHONY #3-HEAVY METAL

When I was nineteen years old and playing the Hammond B-3 organ in a band called the Salvation Navy, we shared the bill with the Yard Birds. A skinny kid in burgundy lame pants and tie-dyed tank top walks onto the stage with his guitar and violin bow. He subsequently went on to blow our minds with his incredible virtuosity and a vision of what was to come. His name was Jimmy Page and he formed a new band the very next year. Led Zeppelin, with its roots steeped in rhythm and blues, was to become the greatest heavy metal band that rock 'n' roll had ever known. One particular guitar solo of Page's, from the song "Heartbreaker," impressed me so much that I was inspired to write the fourth movement of this symphony. It was the forceful way he resolved the ideas in the last four measures that left the impression. HEAVY METAL, the second part of a trilogy containing SYMPHONY #2-REGGAE and SYMPHONY #4-FUNK, had its compositional beginnings on January 13, 1987. Work continued periodically until its completion on March 13, 1990. To attitude, melodrama and pure, pubescent energy! ORCHESTRATION Piccolo 2 Flutes 2 Oboes English Horn 2 Bb Clarinets Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons Contra Bassoon 4 Horns in F 3 Bb Trumpets 2 Tenor Trombones Bass Trombone Tuba (six percussionists) 4 Timpani (30”, 28”, 25” 23”) Glockenspiel Marimba Vibraphone Tom toms (high, medium & low) Snare Bass Suspended Cymbal Crash Cymbal Tam tam Triangle Anvil 14-16-22 1st Violins 12-14-18 2nd Violins 10-12-14 Violas 8-10-12 Celli 6-8-10 Double Basses Duration: (55:00