Symphony VI, Op. 45

Instrumentation: full orchestra (see below)

Composed: 1970 (pub. 1971)

Performance Time: 28 min.

Score available from: Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music at Free Library of Philadelphia.

Program Note:
First drafts of the Sixth Symphony, Op. 45, were begun in the spring of 1969. However, the work was interrupted by a commission from Sixten Ehrling and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the composition Epimetheus USA. Gutche composes at high speed and intensity, and the interruption and subsequent loss of momentum to the Sixth Symphony caused him to abandon his first drafts. When he returned to the work in 1970, he very rapidly completed an entirely new version.

The Symphony has an unusual intrumental form. The first movement, a kind of Prologue of Fanfares, is for brass only; the second, an emotional slow movement, is for strings only; the third movement is a scherzo for winds, and only in the fourth movement Finale do all the forces of the orchestra join together in a calculated amassing of energy and intensity.

Orchestration:

3 Flutes (Picc.)
3 Oboes (Eng. Hn)
2 Bb Clarinets (Bass Cl.)
1 Eb Clarinet
2 Bassoons
1 Contrabassoon
4 Horns in F
4 Trumpets in C and Bb
3 Trombones
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (3 players)
Celeste
Xylophone
Harp
Strings