Portraits of the Gulfcoast - Score and Parts
This three movement symphonic poem was written between the time that I was a senior in high school and the summer prior to my freshman year in college at the age of 17. It is my first "Symphony", and takes as inspiration the last hour I spent in the Biloxi, Mississippi Gulfcoast area with my girlfriend at the time, Janet Mercer. The First movement is entitled "...And The Sea", the second is "The Blue Hour", and the third is "A New Life".
The "Portraits" was the largest orchestral piece I had composed at the time. Although played on numerous occasions over the years, the first performance was on the evening of January 16, 1976 by the Gulfcoast Symphony Orchestra in Biloxi, Mississippi.
James Shannon conducted the orchestra as part of their Bicentennial tribute to American composers.
