The Peril of Dreams is a symphony expressed through the lens of a double harp concerto: four movements which are in many ways thematically connected. The first movement lays out the musical materials and the relationship of soloists to ensemble. The second, a kind of minuet scherzo, reveals a hidden character – the ‘hymn from upstairs’, which only makes its appearance at the very end of the movement.
The third movement is a kind of Tarantella or death dance – a short, poisonous spike of energy before the somber, tragic final movement in which the harps drift nobly further and further from the orchestra. Hannah Lash
