Cordancia takes on the cosmos with ‘Genesis’

Cordancia Chamber Orchestra will end its 2025-2026 season by going back to the beginning. The beginning of everything, that is—as depicted musically in “Genesis: A Symphonic Arche” by H. John Hartmann.

Cordancia is known for promoting music by contemporary composers, but in many ways “Genesis” will be a major departure for the ensemble. A typical Cordancia program consists of several shorter 20^th or 21^st century works for a small orchestra. But “Genesis” is, appropriately, an ambitious and enormous composition. Its 10 movements span an hour and a half, and the chamber orchestra will be beefed up with additional strings, brass, and percussion to 50 players, plus a small female choir. (And just to be clear, “Genesis” has nothing to do with the classic-rock band.)

Hartmann, an American composer, worked on the score of “Genesis” for more than three decades. Since the composer’s death in 2020, his widow, Mickey Xun-Hartmann M.D., has continued the labor of love, fulfilling her mission to encourage performances of her husband’s magnum opus.

Conductor Raúl Munguia will bring “Genesis” to life with Cordancia. Munguia, who teaches conducting at Nazareth University and is musical director of Rochester Lyric Opera, so far is the only conductor to perform “Genesis” publicly, which he’s done several times, most recently in Honduras. (Other conductors are planning to present it in Mexico City and the Dominican Republic.)

The conductor describes Hartmann’s musical inspiration as “the evolution of the planet, and its parallel story of humanity.” A musical motive at the beginning and end of “Genesis” creates the arch structure, enclosing movements that evoke (among other things) the creation of the elements of air, water, and fire; a great battle in heaven; a transformation guiding humanity out of darkness; and a hopeful finale that the composer called “the New Dawn of the future.” (That’s a very general description of the piece; you can read much more about the program of “Genesis” here.)

“It’s a huge score,” says Munguia, lifting and displaying it, “and a long, intense piece for sure—it’s like a Mahler symphony. But John’s music is colorful and dramatic—almost cinematic—and he could definitely write beautiful melodies. At our first rehearsal, members of Cordancia said to me, ‘This is like the soundtrack to a movie we haven’t seen!’”

Munguia met and became friendly with the Hartmanns in Kansas; he taught on the music faculty of Pittsburg State University, and they were prominent figures in Pittsburg’s musical life. Hartmann, a Juilliard School graduate, had written short, unpublished piano works and religious choral music before he was inspired to write a huge orchestral work on a cosmic theme.

“John had never even taken an orchestration class,” says Munguia. “But he was persistent, and became knowledgeable about each instrument. If he was not sure how to write something for the harp, he discussed it with a harpist.”

The music Hartmann left required some editing of different instrumental parts. But “Genesis” was performable, and Hartmann’s widow got it performed.

“Mickey is not a musician—she’s an oncologist,” says Munguia, of the composer’s widow. “But she knows ‘Genesis’ by heart. She has stopped me in rehearsals to say, ‘Something was missing there.’  She can’t read the score, but she hears something wrong, and she is always right.” (Xun-Hartmann will come to Rochester to attend the May 2 performance, which will also include a short, contrasting work by Munguia’s Nazareth University colleague Octavio Vasquez, “Negra Sombra.”)

Admission to this ambitious concert is free, in accordance with the Hartmanns’ wish.

“They wanted ‘Genesis’ performances to be available to a wide public,” says Munguia, adding, “If you enjoy colorful, exciting music that explores the different textures of the orchestra, you will enjoy this.”

Cordancia Chamber Orchestra, Raúl Munguía, guest conductor, presents “Genesis: A Symphonic Arche,” Saturday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, 597 East Ave. Admission is free; reservations are requested (see here).

David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer.

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