For orchestra
Symphony No. 5
Paradise Lost
A symphony after the shadow of John Milton’s creation epic — framed by prologue and epilogue, with the laments of Eve and Adam at its center.
Commission
Commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg on 15 October 2022. With the support of the Friends of the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg e.V.
Source
John Milton. The title Paradise Lost is borrowed from Milton’s immortal poetic masterpiece, opening a symphonic space of fall, lament, memory and judgment.
World Premiere
15 October 2022. Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg — Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, conducted by Joana Mallwitz.
Structure
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Prologue
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Eve’s Lament
- One of the two central large parts of the symphony.
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Adam’s Lament
- The second central large part of the symphony.
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Epilogue
Work Information
Abbreviations PDF
Symphonic World
The epithet Paradise Lost refers to John Milton’s seventeenth-century creation epic of the same name. Framed by a prologue and an epilogue, Auerbach places the laments of the first humans, Eve and Adam, at the center of the symphony.
The symphony also draws on material from Auerbach’s earlier work Eve’s Lament from 2019. Here, lament is not merely sorrow, but a form of consciousness: the first music after loss, the first remembrance after exile, the first attempt to understand what has been broken.
Auerbach leaves open whether and how this symphony relates to the upheavals of our time. Its power lies precisely in that openness: Paradise Lost becomes not only a mythic title, but a mirror of human history, private grief, moral rupture and the fragile possibility of understanding.
Publisher and Materials
Published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski. Score and rental materials are available through Zinfonia.