On today’s date in 1993, the American composer Daniel Asia conducted the Phoenix Symphony in the premiere performance of his Symphony No. 4. The work included a slow movement, written as an orchestral elegy for Asia’s friend and composer colleague, Stephen Albert, who had died in a car crash the previous year.

But Asia cast his symphony in the traditional four-movements familiar from the symphonies of Haydn and Beethoven. And, as in the symphonies of Haydn and Beethoven, Asia left room for a wide range of emotions – including humor. So, in addition to a slow, elegiac movement, Asia’s Symphony has a second movement Scherzo, with a traditional, but jaunty and very American-sounding trio section.

“In this piece,” writes Asia, “I was rediscovering old formal ideas ... The second movement is a true scherzo. There are refractions of Beethoven scherzos, but sometimes a beat is chopped off, creating a skipping effect. Everything is in threes in the trio-section; the harmony is three-voiced, and the instrumentation is also in threesomes.”

As both composer and conductor, Daniel Asia has worked with American orchestras for coast-to-coast performances of his orchestral works, ranging from his hometown Seattle Symphony to the American Composers Orchestra in New York.

Daniel Asia (b. 1953) — Symphony No. 4 (New Zealand Symphony; James Sedares, cond.) Summit 256