“…It’s the arts that separates us from the animals. We as artists are very uniquely positioned to be able to express things that many people can’t…” Lucas Richman, Composer
Lucas Richman’s newest symphony titled This Will Be Our Reply was performed for the second time ever by the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra Sunday, April 28th. The composition was inspired by a Leonard Bernstein quote made in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Bernstein expressed the need to make music in response to violence in a manner more intense, more beautiful and more devotedly than ever before.
This Will Be Our Reply consists three movements that are uniquely different yet connected in a manner of story-telling. Incorporating cacophonous elements alongside calm and peace, poetry, Hebrew verse and choral elements, the composition guides audiences through a journey from strife to inner peace. The first movement titled Intensity is passionate and loud, a musical depiction of struggle against outer forces. The second movement, Beauty, creates an atmosphere of aesthetic relaxation. Everett describes it as “the colors of the orchestra …coming in and out. It allows you to calm down from the rhythmic drive of the first movement and sort of sit back in peace and take it all in…” The third movement, Devotion, is a bow to those elements of the universe much larger than humanity in effort toward peace and healing.
In this segment, Richman and Everett discuss the composition, the meanings behind it and much more.
“It’s just so profound to be performing this music right now in our world…if we can take a couple hours on Sunday afternoon here in Bemidji, MN and tie all of this together and bring the devotion and beauty and peace and the message of this symphony… to get to do a piece of music like that – it’s an opportunity, it’s a responsibility.” Beverly Everett, BSO Conductor
