William Bryant
A San Francisco Evening was composed in 2012 for a commission by Sara Lee. The work premiered in the fall of 2012 at Auer Hall on the campus of Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. The original composition was written as a viola concerto, while this orchestral score was completed in 2013. The inspiration for A San Francisco Evening emerged from studying historical events of the 1903 Great San Francisco Earthquake. The first movement introduces the quiet of that morning, before the earthquake occurred. There is a surreal uneasiness in the air, as though nature is aware of the impending doom, represented by dogs barking and birds fleeing the city. The second movement is a memorial of the tragedy and the unimaginable loss of life that ensued. The final movement represents the intensity and horrific explosion as the Great San Francisco Earthquake takes its toll.
