About the composer

Described as “cinematic,” “surging,” and “lush,” John D. Gottsch’s musical language has been compared to “John Williams, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and the orchestral showpieces of Ottorino Respighi” (The Classical Review).

John D. Gottsch, former composer-in-residence for the South Florida Symphony Orchestra, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and shortly afterwards his family moved to Florida. He spent his youth in the lake country of Florida on the watch for alligators while swimming and always looking down in woods and swamps to avoid rattlesnakes and water moccasins. He traveled many of the rivers of the state which would begin in the back country and eventually empty into the Gulf or the Atlantic. These explorations of Florida gave him an enduring love for the beauty and wildlife of the state.

Mr. Gottsch now splits his time between Baltimore and Key West. He has been a lifelong composer and a number of his compositions reflect his deep appreciation of the outdoors. His piano suite, Homosassa was premiered in Palm Beach (2020). His piano quintet, Maryland Hunt, was premiered at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Washington, D.C (2018) and has been performed in Philadelphia, Vienna, Rotterdam, and Baltimore. The work is dedicated to his daughter, Clare Brooks Gottsch. His Paris Trio (flute, viola, and double bass) was premiered at the Institut Pasteur, Paris (2019) and was performed in Boston on May 15, 2020. A bassoon quartet will be premiered in Amsterdam on October 2, 2020.

His orchestral symphonic poem, Sunset, was premiered by the South Florida Symphony Orchestra on March 5th, 7th and 8th in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Key West respectively. The work was conceived while at Mallory Square in Key West as a large crowd enjoyed the setting sun. The moment seemed to call for a musical fanfare. However as the score was sketched, the fragile nature of the island and its vulnerability to the perils of climate change became abundantly clear. 

The structure of Sunset consists of 7 connected movements as the score attempts to bring to musical life some of the past and future of Key West. The 1st movement represents the birth of the island, "From Ocean’s Depth." The 2nd movement is a fanfare to "An Island Is Born." This is followed by "Life Is Teeming," with the 4th movement celebrating the ubiquitous birds of the island, “With Soaring Magnificent Frigates Vigilant.” The frigates are in fact on guard for an approaching hurricane, movement 5, "For the Impending Tempest.” This section represents the fury of a hurricane and was actually conceived and written as Hurricane Irma swept the Florida Keys. In the middle of this movement, there is a sudden silence representing the arrival of the eye of the hurricane and the score creates the lament of a frigate bird caught in the storm. The movement ends as the eye passes and the rest of the hurricane arrives. The sixth movement "Raising the Waters," represents the aftermath of the hurricane and flooding of the island with rapid ascending musical figures. The final movement, “As the Island Sunsets Into the Sea,” is a fanfare comprised of primarily descending musical gestures to conclude the piece.

The score is dedicated to Maestra Sebrina Maria Alfonso for her devotion to music and her love for the island where she was born and raised, Key West.

 Gottsch’s orchestral symphonic poem, Princess Yurievskaya was to be premiered by the South Florida Symphony Orchestra in November 2020 in Key West, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. A new premiere date will be released in the future.

 Princess Yurievskaya (nee Catherine Dolgorukova) was the mistress of Tsar Alexander II and later became his wife in a morganatic marriage after the death of the Empress in 1881. Catherine’s father died when she was young leaving no resources, so it was necessary for her to attend a school for well-born destitute girls supported by the Tsar. At a routine inspection of the school in 1864, the Tsar met Catherine and was immediately smitten. It had been a sad and stressful time for both of them: Catherine who had lost her father and was penniless, and the Tsar who had suffered both the death of his son Nicholas, the Tsaravich, and concurrent loss of conjugal relations with the Empress on medical advice due to her tuberculosis. The pair met and were immediately and wildly wrenched out of their depression by falling madly in love. Catherine had liberal leanings and encouraged the Tsar to continue his Russian reforms, begun after his coronation with the freeing of the serfs.

The orchestral symphonic poem, Princess Yurievskaya, begins with Catherine (violin solo) as a happy young girl (Allegretto festuso) who finds her gifts as a woman (Vivace slancio, Maestoso trionfale). With the death of her father, she falls into despair (Allegretto dolente) and eventually finds a life for herself in the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens (Prestissimo deciso). Alexander (cello solo) became Tsar with his coronation (coronation march, Largretto serioso) in 1855 and, troubled by the plight of the serfs (Allegro con doloroso), frees them ( Dance of the Serfs Presto animato). His reign was mostly untroubled (Allegro nobilimente) when he suffered two nearly simultaneous tragedies with the death of the Tsaravich and the withdrawal of relations with the Empress. His meeting with Catherine at an inspection of her school lifts them both out of despair (Andante con dolore) and they find themselves hopelessly in love and passionately “attacking each other like cats” (Allegro appassionato). Catherine and the Tsar remain blissfully in love producing three healthy children (Tempo di Valse Viennese). Clouds gather over their happy life together, however, as reactionary forces gather in Russia with several unsuccessful assassination attempts on the Tsar. The Empress dies of her tuberculosis and the Tsar, as promised, marries Catherine giving legitimacy to her children and to her he awards the title Princess Yurievskaya. As rumors of another assassination plot swirl about the Winter Palace, Princess Yurievskaya becomes frantic about the danger of the Tsar’s plans for a marshal parade. As she desperately pleads with him not to go, the Tsar attempts to reassure her. Finding her inconsolable, he at last takes the Princess into his arms and lifting her onto a table makes love to her. The Tsar then leaves the palace for the parade and shortly thereafter one bomb and then another is hurled at his carriage. The Tsar, mortally wounded, is carried back to the Winter Palace and placed in the foyer where the Tsaravich, Alexander III, and his son, the young Nicholas, stand grief stricken as Princess Yurievskaya descends the stairs still in the white night gown that she had worn making love to her beloved husband. Realizing to her horror what has happened, she crouches and speaks to the Tsar. On hearing him utter his last words and taking his last breath, she throws herself on his broken body (Presto agito).

sunset in Key West
where the sun also rises
on musical wings

Haiku by Albert Anderson, March 8, 2020