Program Notes

Commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale

First performance, January 26, 2020 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) is an American silent romantic drama by F.W. Murnau, written by Carl Mayer. One of the great achievements of the silent era, it tells the story of a farmer (George O'Brien) tempted by a city woman (Margaret Livingston) to murder his wife (Janet Gaynor), only to find redemption and renewed love. Its groundbreaking cinematography by Charles Rosher and Karl Struss blends expressive camera movement, double exposures, and dreamlike visuals to bridge realism and lyricism. Themes of temptation, forgiveness, and the clash between rural innocence and urban modernity run throughout the film.

Widely regarded as a masterpiece, Sunrise won multiple awards at the first Academy Awards in 1929, including Best Actress, Best Cinematography, and a unique honor for "Artistic Quality of Production." The film's poetic imagery, emotional depth, and innovative technique mark it as one of cinema's most enduring works.

Beal's aim was to interpret Sunrise for a 21st-century audience: he draws on expressionist aesthetics, archetypes, and dualities in the film (rural vs. urban, purity vs. seduction, inner moral struggle) to shape the music. The score uses voice not just as ornamentation but as a central expressive element - sometimes lyrical, sometimes sombre, sometimes dissonant or dense In scenes such as the boat ride, in which the Man contemplates drowning his Wife, Beal uses the chorus and orchestration to amplify tension and terror, giving visceral emotional texture to what is conveyed visually.