''The Encantadas'' is an orchestral composition written by the American composer

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and Conductor (music), conductor, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City (orchestral work), Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas (orches ...

in 1984 for the

Albany Symphony Orchestra The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1930 as the People's Orchestra of Albany by Italian-born conductor John Carabella, the Albany Symphony is the oldest professional symphony ...

History

Drawn from Herman Melville's descriptions of the Galapagos Islands, ''The Encantadas'' was commissioned by the Albany Academy in celebration of its 175th anniversary. It was premiered by the

on October 14 and 15, 1983, at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and the Albany Palace Theatre with Michael Arkin as Narrator, conducted by Julius Hegyi. ''The Encantadas'' has been recorded by the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

, with

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born on 20 February 1940 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) as Christoph Ringmann. His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross), a ...

as conductor and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

as narrator, as well as by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, led by

Giancarlo Guerrero Giancarlo Guerrero (born March 14, 1969) is a Costa Rican orchestra conductor, born in Nicaragua. He is currently music director of the Nashville Symphony and music director-designate of the Sarasota Orchestra, and artistic director and princip ...

Movements

''The Encantadas'' is in six movements:

Influence

Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurology, neurologist, Natural history, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford ...

, a personal friend of Picker, wrote of the inspiration he took from Picker's music in the preface to his book, ''Island of the Color Blind'', saying he "owe a special debt to Tobias Picker's version of ''The Encantadas'', and that "whenever, in the writing, memory failed me, listening to the piece operated as a sort of Proustian mnemonic, transporting me back to the Marianas and the Carolines."Oliver Sacks, ''The Island of the Colorblind'', Illustrated Edition, (New York: Vintage, 1998), p. xxi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Encantadas Compositions by Tobias Picker 1983 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra