Last Friday, August 1, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra premiered Lee Johnson’s Dead Symphony #6 to a packed house. Ten years in the making, Johnson (pictured above) recently conducted a recorded performance with the Russian National Orchestra (available here and through your favorite download service (iTunes, etc.))

Opening playfully with variations on “Finniculi Finnicula” (a ditty often presenting itself in the Grateful Dead’s onstage tuning jams) this full, twelve movement, symphony swoops into a powerful “Saint Stephen.” While each of the movements centers on a particular song, these are not all straight-and-simple arrangements. “Here Comes Sunshine is recognizable from its themes but is not structured familiarly.

“Mountains of the Moon” is presented tenderly with straightforward layers of strings while “Blues For Allah” opens with a clarinet that snakes to the fore (reminding me of a particular Gershwin composition) and proceeds to provide sufficient bombast to leave me wishing that it were longer.

“Sugar Magnolia” manages to retain its dance-number energy and “To Lay Me Down” stands out as an emotional cornerstone of the work. French horns carry the melody ad strings weave a sonic tapestry.

“If I Had The World To Give” is reminiscent of a George Martin arrangement for The Beatles (in the best way) and, after non-symphonic applause, is followed by “Stella Blue.” Once again, a solo clarinet stands in for Garcia’s vocal. This actually shifts into some of the more interesting music of the night, an orchestral ‘jam’ of crashing percussion, whirring strings and horns; building and nearly exploding before settling back down into a brief “Bird Song.”

“China Doll” marks another emotional touchstone and is rendered beautifully. Before the “Finniculi Finnicula” reprise closes out the work.

All in all, Dead Symphony #6 is a strong work that will certainly appeal to Deadheads and may well attract mainstream classical listeners. I encourage the curious to seek out the official release (linked above @ http://www.deadsymphony.com) for those less certain of their interest, there is an unauthorized recording of the Baltimore Symphony performance in circulation but, if you seek that, please consider purchasing the official release and/or contributing to the BSO…

Listen to samples here.