"Spaghetti Western" is a nickname given a genre of Italian films from the mid-1960s, most famously directed by Sergio Leone, and often starring Clint Eastwood as the taciturn, gun-toting anti-hero. "Spaghetti Western" is also the title of a 20-minute Concerto for English horn and Orchestra written by the American composer Michael Daugherty, a work that received its premiere performance on today's date in 1998 at a Pittsburgh Symphony concert conducted by Mariss Jansons. "Just as Leone's films redefined the Western genre from an Italian perspective," writes Michael Daugherty, "I redefine the European concerto by placing it within an American context. In my 'Spaghetti Western,' the English horn soloist is the 'Man with no Name,' moving through a series of musical landscapes. I create imaginary scenarios that evoke the sun-drenched panoramas, the barren deserts, and desolate towns of the Wild West, as well as the gun-slinging characters who haunt the landscape. The three movements of the concerto are my own original music compositions, without alluding to particular film scenes or following their plot." And, for the record, the three movements Daugherty refers to are titled, "Strade Vuote" (Empty Streets), "Assalto all'oro" (Gold Rush), and "Mezzogiorno di fuoco" (Noon of Fire). And since Clint Eastwood was not in a position to play the English horn for the Pittsburgh Symphony premiere, Harold Smoliar removed the cigar from his parched, suntanned lips, adjusted his poncho, and took up his English horn for the performance.