''Radical Light'' is a single-movement

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l composition by the American composer Steven Stucky. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with contributions from Lenore and Bernard Greenberg. It was premiered October 18, 2007 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, with conductor

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The title of the piece comes from the poem "He Held Radical Light" by

A. R. Ammons Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001) was an American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993. Poetic themes Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comi ...

. Stucky, Steven (2007)
Radical Light: Program Note by the Composer
Retrieved May 9, 2015.

Composition

Stucky drew inspiration from the music of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

—specifically his Fourth and

Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

symphonies, beside which ''Radical Light'' was to be first performed. Stucky wrote of this influence in the score program notes: Despite this, Stucky nevertheless remarked that "the actual sound of the music has nothing to do with Sibelius". The work is dedicated to cellist Elinor Frey.

Reception

Lisa Hirsch of the ''San Francisco Classical Voice'' lauded the work and noted the influence of Sibelius, remarking, "Stucky says that the direct influence is the structure of the one-movement Seventh Symphony. ''Radical Light'' is considerably shorter than that work, but builds organically to a spectacular climax of blazing brass and mad string figuration." Joshua Kosman of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' similarly praised the piece as "encompass nga wealth of moods and orchestral colors" and wrote:

References

{{Italic title Compositions by Steven Stucky 2007 compositions 21st-century classical music Compositions for symphony orchestra Music commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic