Chris Walden, born in Hamburg, Germany, is a successful practitioner of composition and arrangement in the Los Angeles commercial galaxy. As a gift to himself, he also creates and records a range of big band jazz. He has recorded three such CDs for Origin Records, one being Grammy nominated (Home of My Heart - Origin #82439). The latest (Kurt Marti Suite - Origin #82482) employs a chorus from Hamburg, thus dipping its toes into the classical world.

Now Walden has gone the whole way, with a beautiful, completely accomplished First Symphony. There are obviously many elements that go into making a symphony – not just the four classical ones (earth, air, etc.) that inspire this composition. And amazingly, Walden, on first go, commands them all. One catches influences: Sibelius, surely; the way a line takes pause and releases into dance is reminiscent of Mahler, for instance. Walden depicts nature by the gracious sonorities that date back to Beethoven. Yet this is no pastiche. The Symphony sings in its own voice. Nor does the music betray his mastery of commercial and big band realms – except in the one element of highly developed, constant communicative chops.

TRACK LISTING:
I. Gaia (andante) 13:06
II. Hudor (vivace) 8:55
III. Aer (adagio) 9:34
IV. Therma (allegro) 9:10

MUSICIANS:
Violins: Belinda Broughton (cm), Roger Wilkie, Jackie Brand, Darius Campo, Roberto Cani, Lily Ho Chen, Kevin Connolly, Nina Evtuhov, Nicole Garcia, Julie Gigante, Alan Grunfeld, Tammy Hatwan, Eric Hosler, Natalie Legget, Jennifer Levin, Phillip Levy, Liane Mautner, Calabria McChesney, Sid Page,
Alyssa Park, Katia Popv, Marc Sazer, Tereza Stanislav, Sarah Thornblade, Josefina Vergara, Shari Zippert
Violas: Evan Wilson, Brian Dembow, Alma Fernandez, Matt Funes, Shawn Mann, Darrin McCann, Vickie Miskolcy, Jimbo Ross, Marda Todd, David Walther
Cellos: Steve Erdody, Paul Cohen, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Trevor Handy, Dennis Karmazyn, Tim Landauer, Maryann Steinberger, Cecilia Tsan
Basses: Kenny Wild, Nico Abandolo, Kevin Axt, Trey Henry, Dave Stone, Ian Walker
Flutes: Heather Clark, Rob Lockart, Jeff Driskill
Oboes: Earle Dumler, Leslie Reed, Cathy Del Russo
Clarinets: Chris Bleth, Bob Sheppard, Ralph Williams
Bassoons: Ken Munday, Bob Carr, John Mitchell
Horns: Rick Todd, Steve Becknell, Kristy Morrell, Phil Yao
Trumpets: Jon Lewis, Kye Palmer, Kevin Richardson
Trombones: Andy Martin, Bob McChesney, Bryant Byers
Tuba: Bill Reichenbach
Timpani: Don Williams
Percussion: Bob Zimmitti, MB Gordy, Ray Brinker
Harp: Gayle Levant
Piano/Celesta: Alan Steinberger

PRODUCTION:
Composed and Produced by CHRIS WALDEN
Recorded at the newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, December 2007
Mixed at Capitol Studios, Hollywood
Recording and mixing engineer: AL SCHMIDT
Assistand engineer and Protools operator: STEVE GENEWICK
Boothreader: TIM DAVIES
Orchestra contractor: GINA ZIMMITTI
Assistant to Chris Walden: WILL FORBES
Mastering: ROBERT VOSGIEN at Capitol Mastering
Video: CHRIS SETTLEMOIR
Enhanced CD authoring: MONKEYSHARK INC.
Session photographs: BEATE WALDEN
Cover photograph: DAVID ROCK
Cover design & layout: JOHN BISHOP
Publicity: COSTA COMMUNICATIONS
Executive Producer: CHRIS WALDEN

REVIEWS:

KBAQ 89.5fm
Music Director Sterling Beeaff gives an audio review of Chris Walden's Symphony No. 1, "The Four Elements," as the KBAQ CD of the Week .... click here to listen to this review.

www.scorenotes.com
Reviewed by Tom Hoover
"I admit it, I was intrigued. The premise of Chris Walden's first symphony had plenty to offer and thus I was left wondering what style of music I would hear from this album. Granted, this was technically a classical music piece and not a film score, but Walden has had plenty of experience in the entertainment industry so I thought it would be interesting to see what direction he would go in.... read the full review here.

Film Music: The Neglected Art
I was more than intrigued to investigate this new release given the fact that new classical works are only performed and seldom recorded. What was the style going to be like? My initial thought was something along the lines of a Patrick Williams American Concerto, a fusion of symphonic orchestral and jazz or a Gershwin American in Paris. As you read further in the review you’ll find out how wrong I was! ... read the full review here.

All Music Guide
Reviewed by Stephen Eddins
German-born Chris Walden is best known as a jazz performer (he created his own big band), for his writing for film (he has scored over 40), and for his orchestral arranging (his clients are as diverse as Paul Anka, Sheryl Crow, Barbra Streisand, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). His first symphony is the first piece of absolute music he has written for orchestra and marks a move toward reaching out to a more traditionally classical audience. Walden is an expert.... read the full review here.

Gramaphone
Reviewed by Donald Rosenberg
Chris Walden is a German-born Hollywood arranger and film composer, whose credits include American Idol and albums with such pop stars as Barbara Streisand and Michael Bolton. Those credentials wouldn't appear to have prepared him to join the ranks of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and others in the world of the symphony... read the full review here.

Tokafi
Reviewed by Tobias Fischer
Paradoxes can have sweet side-effects. When writers in Hollywood put down their pencils and turned off their typewriters last year, Composer Chris Walden actually started working even harder than ever. Specialising in scoring orchestral arrangements to movies and TV series, the strike allowed him to finish his first Symphony, a project he had been longing to realise for years. A fourty-minute work on the four elements, it has now been published on Origin Classical Records and serves as testimony to Walden’s ability of writing in almost any idiom imaginable – incorporating the oneiric richness and Jazz-influences of his Big Band arrangements with an orchestral language inspired as much by Romanticism as by the big soundtrack composers... read the full review here.