Music

- UC San Diego composer Roger Reynolds is still basking in the afterglow of three performances of his latest work, “Symphony(Vertigo),” by the San Francisco Symphony, Dec. 9-12. Reynolds lauded the orchestra’s remarkable cooperation as well as the enthusiasm of associate conductor Andrew Massey in presenting his expansive three-movement opus for prepared tape and orchestra.

“I also learned how much an audience can shape the perception of a piece,” Reynolds said. Though the opening-night audience coughed and fidgeted through the composition, and a few patrons walked out, the Friday evening audience showered the composer with bravos and demanded several curtain calls.

The reaction of San Francisco Chronicle music critic Robert Commanday, however, fell somewhere in between scorn and adulation. Similar to the criticism that Mozart received from his royal patron--”Too many notes!”--Commanday chided Reynolds for attempting to accomplish too much in a 21-minute work:

“The impression is that Reynolds has piled too much on his plate,” wrote Commanday in a review that analyzed in some detail the work’s philosophical foundations.

“In a city where minimalism is held in such high esteem, I was not surprised by Commanday’s reaction,” Reynolds said. Until last year, he noted, one of the high priests of minimalism, John Adams, was the San Francisco Symphony’s composer in residence.