Prelude for Orchestra

Martha Beck

The Prelude for Orchestra was composed in 1976 on commission from the Albany Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Julius Hegyi, and was recorded at that time in Troy Music Hall (later known as Troy Savings Bank Music Hall). It is a free composition, written for large orchestra with exotic instruments, multiple percussion, and organ. From my personal knowledge it was inspired by the vision of a blue sky dotted with clouds, some light and fleecy, some dark and menacing.