''The Encantadas'' is an orchestral composition written by the American composer Tobias Picker 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 14th and 15th, 1983, at the

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, is a performance space in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The music hall, renowned for its acoustics and an Odell concert organ, is operated by a not-for-profit organization. It was designated ...

and the Albany Palace Theatre with Michael Arkin as Narrator, conducted by Julius Hegyi. ''The Encantadas'' has been recorded by the Houston Symphony, with Christoph Eschenbach as conductor and John Gielgud as narrator, as well as by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, led by

Giancarlo Guerrero Giancarlo Guerrero (born 1969) is a Costa Rican, Nicaraguan-born, US-based music director. He is the music director of the Nashville Symphony in Nashville, Tennessee. Guerrero is also Music Director of the Wrocław Philharmonic at the National Fo ...

Movements

''The Encantadas'' is in six movements:

Influence

Oliver Sacks, 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

{{italic title Compositions by Tobias Picker 1983 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra