A SYMPHONY BEGINS WITH A FEW NOTES

A big symphonic work of music often evolves from only a few notes, says Swiss composer Franco Cesarini. His 23-minute "Alpine Poem Suite" began with only an F and a B-flat and the desire to pay tribute to German composer Richard Strauss and his Alpine Symphony.

"With two notes you can move on," Cesarini says. "... The trip begins."

Wednesday, Cesarini discussed composing for 16 students in a music theory class taught by Dr. Robert Fruehwald, a composer himself. Cesarini played excerpts from a recording of the evocative "Alpine Poem Suite" to illustrate how the music was constructed.

He will be the guest conductor tonight when the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble presents a concert of his music. The performance will begin at 8 at Academic Auditorium. A reception for the composer will be held afterward at the Johnson Faculty Center.

Admission is $5 general, $3 for seniors and students, and free for university students with an I.D.

The concert culminates a weeklong series of lectures, rehearsals and performances dedicated to Cesarini's music.

Tonight's program will begin with "Harlequin: An Overture for Concert Band," followed by "Mosaici Bizantini," a work echoing with Gregorian chants and inspired by Byzantine mosaics found in churches in Venice and Palermo.

"Nabucco Overture" is Cesarini's transcription of Verdi's popular opera. "The Haunter of the Dark" is based on an H.P. Lovecraft story about a deserted church where a scholar who studies ancient religions experiences strange visions.

The finale will be the "Lugano Concert March," written in 1998 as Cesarini's tribute to the Lugano Civil Philharmonic, which he conducts.

Cesarini teaches wind band conducting at the Zurich Conservatory. Born in 1961, he studied at the conservatory of Milan in Italy and won the top prize in the Swiss soloist competition in 1981.

Symbolic mountains

Referring to the "Alpine Poem Suite," Cesarini quoted another composer who said mountains are a symbolic meeting place between the material and spiritual world.

"For someone like me, every horizon is illuminated by the Alps," he told the students.

The work's seven movements alternate between the material and spiritual, mingling themes that evoke fog and storms with themes that express melancholia and the idea of karma.

Afterward, Cesarini critiqued the work of four student compositions and found something worthy in all of them.

"That piece has only one problem," he told Cape Girardeau music student Jennifer Prost after Fruehwald performed her flute composition. "It's too short."

Dr. Robert Gifford, a music professor who arranged Cesarini's visit here, will take the composer to visit Hannibal, Mo., before he leaves the country. Cesarini's newest piece, "Tom Sawyer Suite," is based on his favorite childhood book.

Four years ago, he asked Gifford to provide him with examples of Missouri folk songs. He also listened to American country music and Native American music. "I took a lot of time to study," he said.

"Tom Sawyer Suite," with movements named for most of the book's main characters, will premiere this summer in Switzerland.