A Toltec Symphony (also known as Symphony No. 7 "A Toltec Symphony") is a 2005 symphony by Philip Glass. The National Symphony Orchestra commissioned Glass to write it to commemorate the 60th birthday of conductor Leonard Slatkin. Slatkin conducted the debut concert on January 20, 2005 at the Kennedy Center, which Philip Glass attended.
Composition
The symphony calls for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, rattle, tom-tom, wood block, glockenspiel, piano, celesta, harp, violins, violas, cellos, basses, organ, and chorus. At 30 minutes long, it has three movements:
- The Corn
- The Hikuri (the Sacred Root)
- The Blue Deer
Inspiration
Glass said that he wrote the symphony about Mesoamerica and the life of Native Americans centuries before the arrival of European explorers. The first movement, "The Corn," focuses on the interplay between Mother Nature and those she provides for. "The Hikuri (the Sacred Root)" is a root that grows in the northern and central Mexican deserts and is thought to be a gateway to the spiritual world. Finally, the last movement is about "the holder of the Book of Knowledge," whom every truth seeking person must face.
