1. Symphonic Pentad for Orchestra (1964)
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della Radiotelevisione Italiana, Foro Italico, Rome, F. Scaglia, Conductor — September, 1967.
2. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1968)
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della Radiotelevisione Italiana, Foro Italico, Rome, E. Gracis, Conductor; Composer as soloist — September, 1968.
Composed while Cotel was living in Rome as a winner of the American Rome Prize. In Cotel’s own words:
“The piano has a rigidly constructed opening cadenza in which the basic material of the piece is laid out. Then the orchestra enters, little by little, in a much more free kind of structuring — they’re not concerned with the durational aspect of the piece, and they’re not concerned with synchronizing, and the result is that they begin to pull elements away from the soloist.
Eventually, the piano has nothing left but isolated pitches, and the orchestra covers it over and there’s no solo part at all. At that midpoint in the piece, the conductor takes over; the piano can no longer control the sonic events. And the pianist tries, by loosening the compositional controls, to regain some kind of rapport with the orchestral element. But the orchestra is always one jump ahead of the piano. They’re always a little bit more free, a little bit more loose, a little more chaotic, and eventually the piano part gets totally covered over.
All the separate elements in the score, instead of coming together in the end, begin to pull apart — there’s a kind of entropic quality to this music. And each of the individual elements becomes lost – the elements become submerged in a kind of orchestral indeterminateness. And at the point of maximum chaos, the piece cuts off. There’s no resolution.”
3. Variations on a Theme by Haydn for Orchestra (1973)
Kol Israel Symphony Orchestra, recorded at Israel Broadcasting Authority; Sergiu Comissiona conducting, Jerusalem — June, 1973.
In Cotel’s own words: “In my late twenties, when I was in the throes of atonal writing, I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be interesting to write a set of variations on a well known classical theme.’ I took the Andante from the Haydn Surprise Symphony, and I did a set of variations for orchestra, backwards. Instead of starting simple and getting more and more complex, it starts with a conductor who comes out and gives a downbeat, the orchestra goes crazy, and you don’t know what’s going on. And then in the course of the variations, it gets more and more ordered, more and more tonal, and at the end, Hayden’s theme emerges. I started with total complexity, then it gets more and more simple. This was in 1972, at the very beginning of what became known as the return to tonality.”
Performed here by the Peabody Concert Orchestra, Edward Polochik conducting, 2001.
Recording above ®2024, The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
4. Harmony of the World for String Orchestra (1975)
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Sergiu Comissiona conducting.
Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland — December 3rd & 4th, 1980.
Composed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, this piece was based on the work of the great astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630), who believed that the planets revolve around the sun in ratios which are the mathematical equivalents of musical intervals.
In Cotel’s own words:
“In Kepler’s Astronomy of the World, which appeared in 1619, the astronomer associated musical notes with the heavenly bodies. These notes are not audible, but described in terms of mathematical relationships. This suggested to me the possibility of creating a piece based on similar musical relationships. It occurred to me that if an astronomer could perceive that the workings of the universe constitute a harmonious interplay of elements in time, then a composer could similarly conceive of a work which is, by analogy, a harmonious interplay of musical elements in time.
Kepler’s mathematics inspired me in much the same way that romantic poetry inspired composers of ages past. His number proportions form the basis for my rhythms and melodies. Kepler’s ratios are poetry, and by transforming them into pitches and rhythms I obtained the basis for this musical work. After all, if Johannes Kepler could apply music to his astronomy, it would appear meaningful as well to apply his astronomy to music.”
5. Trope for Orchestra (1994-1995)
This orchestral piece draws thematically from the musical phrases in traditional Jewish cantillation for reading Torah.
6. Mews’ Muse for Orchestra (1999)
Based upon the award-winning piano composition that came into being when Cotel’s cat Ketzel walked across the piano, this whimsical and musically-rich piece imagines a cat walking across the orchestra.
Moshe Cotel 