Three Movements for Orchestra on Illustrations by Marc Chagall

The three movements that comprise this orchestral work were inspired by selected illustrations created in 1946 by the artist Marc Chagall for a special edition of Arabian Nights Entertainments, a book of tales. This work is programmatic since it intends to describe musically the mood, character, and figures of each painting. The formal organization of the movements relates to some of the visual elements found in these illustrations such as proportions, perspective, and spatial settings. Other visual elements like characters and figures are represented by musical themes, motives, and gestures in a rather intuitive manner