John Corigliano: Promenade Overture: Orchestra

While Promenade Overture can be performed with the orchestra seated throughout, in traditional fashion, it is engineered to allow the players to enter playing, building the orchestra from an almost empty stage.
Thepremise of Promenade Overture took root years ago when the composer was caught off guard by Haydn's delightful Farewell Symphony. This Haydn work is often used to end a concert, because during the lastmovement theplayers gradually exit, leaving two violins to finish the symphony on a bare stage. Since overtures usually begin concerts, a reverse of this procedure - the entrance of the orchestra while playing - became both aninterestingidea and a compositional challenge.