Overture to a Summer Afternoon - Ron Miller (1992) -- approx. 4-1/2 minutes

The Overture to a Summer Afternoon was composed to celebrate the Peninsula Symphony’s Summer Concerts in the Park, which by 1992 had become well established.  It was also written to celebrate the composer’s completion of his dissertation, after several years of arduous research.  The Overture opens with a brief fanfare, then dives right into a light, playful, summery theme. The fanfare melody is extrapolated by solo English horn in a more relaxed section, after which the initial theme returns and the piece closes. 

Orchestration:
*3-*3-*3-2 - 4-3-3-1 - 3 perc - timp - hp - str.
Percussion includes Orchestra Bells, Xylophone, Crash Cymbals, Snare Drum, and Bass Drum.
Harp is optional.  There is a lovely solo for English horn, for which an alternate part for Alto Saxophone exists.  That part can be doubled by one of the clarinetists.

This recording, by the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, Mitchell Sardou Klein, Conductor, is from 2010.