by Mike Telin
“This is a great piece of music that just happens to be an English horn concerto,” Robert Walters said during an interview. “I’m excited about playing it because I think the audience will like it as much as I do.”
On Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Robert Walters, Cleveland Orchestra solo English horn, will give the U.S premiere of Geoffrey Gordon’s Mad Song. Under the direction of Tugan Sokhiev, the concert also includes Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday at 7:30. Tickets are available online.
Written in 2020, Gordon’s Mad Song was commissioned for Dimitri Mestdag, the solo English horn of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. When the composer contacted Walters about giving the U.S. premiere of the concerto, Walters paused. “I’d heard Geoffrey Gordon’s name — he’s the guy who writes a lot of concertos. He told me that everyone says that I’m the guy to talk to about that. And I said, I’m flattered. I’ll give it a listen.”
Because Walters’ life had become quite busy with his Cleveland Orchestra job and teaching — he was also focusing on being a dad — he told the composer that it wasn’t a good time for him to take on a concerto.
“Geoffrey got back to me and said, ‘Listen, I respect that, but you know how things work. Even if we get a performance scheduled, it’ll be a few years before it can actually happen.’ At that point I listened to the piece and was surprised at how immediately I loved it and couldn’t imagine not playing it. So I was very grateful that Geoffrey hounded me a little, and learning it has just been such a privilege.”
Walters thinks that the score is brilliantly written for orchestra. “It’s made me more aware of how orchestras are built, how orchestration works, and how that affects the mood and layout of everything.”
Walters took the recording to the Orchestra’s artistic administrator, who said that he would give it a listen. “I saw him the day after he heard it and he said ‘Wow, that’s a great piece. We should do it.’”
Still there was one small hurdle to get over. “Geoffrey composed the concerto straight to score, so there was no piano reduction. I told him that I needed to have one because I had to have some form of flight simulation. And he said, okay, I’ll get you one.”
The concerto is inspired by William Blake’s Mad Song. Emma Baldwin of Poem Analysis writes that the poem shows “the speaker’s frantic pain and turbulent mental state through changes in nature.” Click here to learn more.
Walters said that the poem is fascinating and that the concerto mirrors its form and structure. “The way it feels like the Blake is pretty smart because sometimes when a piece of music is based on something else, you forget about the something else. But if you read the poem and listen to the music you say, Yes, this is what this poem feels like.”
Walters, who holds a Master’s of Fine Arts in fiction and poetry at Columbia University said the literary aspect of the concerto fascinated him. “If you go to Geoffrey Gordon’s website and read about him, a lot of his works’ titles are based on mythology, literature, and painting. He’s an erudite, cultured creature, and his whole ethos sort of pushes all my buttons.”
Mad Song is also one of the most challenging pieces Walters has ever played. “It traverses the entire range of the instrument and Geoffrey asks for every possible musical gesture. It takes you to the brink, it stretches you as far as you can go. But it’s all possible. It’s not like some music that is so complex and so difficult that it becomes frustrating. Learning this has never been drudgery or dispiriting in any way. I’ve really enjoyed absorbing it.”
Walters pointed out that although Gordon’s music is definitely modern, it is tonal when it wants to be. “Even when it’s the most thorny and challenging to listen to, it’s still approachable and makes sense.”
The concerto is scored for a large orchestra. “It calls for a huge percussion section, brass, all the woodwinds and strings, and there’s piano, celesta, and harp. But the piece is wonderfully orchestrated. You never have to fight with the orchestra and he gives me a lot of room, which is really smart. But the guy writes a lot of concertos so he’s figured out how to do that.”
Walters said that he always appreciates the opportunity to stand in front of The Cleveland Orchestra. “The English horn is such a solo instrument within the orchestra but when you stand in front of it, it heightens your awareness and skill set for everything you’re doing. It makes you a better musician.”
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
Published on ClevelandClassical.com November 11, 2025.
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