Inspired by Vincent van Gogh's 1886 painting, The Fourteenth of July Celebration, Vuurwerk ("Fireworks") was commissioned by artist and conductor, Hans Barten, in 2017 to commemorate his appointment as musical director of the Accordeonensemble Opus 2 in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. The boldly rugged strokes of van Gogh's painting, depicting the French tricolor red, white, and blue in explosive bursts across the evening sky are evoked musically by harmonic clusters, alternately resolving in random atonalities and lilting melodies that gradually develop into an exhilarating musical fireworks display.


John Franceschina, composer, has created scores for the National Shakespeare Company and the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Baltimore's Center Stage, Washington's Ford's Theatre and the Arena Stage, the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Geva Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Papermill Playhouse, Music Theatre Works, and the Moscow Art Theatre, in addition to the Asolo State Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, where he acted as composer-in-residence from 1976 to 1993. His Fanfare for the Fiftieth was commissioned by Philippe Entremont for the fiftieth anniversary of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra in 1985; his secular oratorio, Houtebeen, for male chorus, string orchestra and accordion ensemble, toured the Netherlands in 2014, and his opera, Scenes from the Jungle toured the Netherlands in 2019.


Music by John Franceschina

(Titles in this Series)

Requiem
(Chorus, soloists, accordion ensemble)
Concerto voor Saxofoon en Blassensemble
Vuurwerk ("Fireworks")
(Accordion ensemble, percussion)
Kynaston; Concert Variations on a Theme by Henry Purcell
(Accordion ensemble, percussion)
Oroonoko; Rhapsody for Bayan Accordion Ensemble and Percussion
Leiden Suite (Accordion Ensemble)
Journey to the Center of the Earth; 3 Ballets
(Accordion ensemble, actors, dancers, percussion)
Scenes from the Jungle, an opera
(Vocal soloists, accordion ensemble, percussion)
Houtebeen, an oratorio
(Male chorus, string orchestra, accordion ensemble, percussion)
Joppenszoon, a cantata for tenor and baritone
(Accordion ensemble, percussion)
Concerto Grosso for Blassensemble, Accordion Ensemble, and Percussion
Desire Under the Elms: Incidental Music for Orchestra
Candida: Incidental Music for String Quartet