Symphony No. 5 – Paradise Lost

For orchestra

Symphony No. 5

Paradise Lost

Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5, Paradise Lost, is a 2022 symphony for orchestra after the shadow of John Milton’s creation epic — framed by prologue and epilogue, with the laments of Eve and Adam at its center.

Year 2022
Duration 35′
Scoring For
orchestra
Publisher Boosey & Hawkes
/ Sikorski
Full Catalogue Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski Score and Rental Material Abbreviations PDF

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 refers to Milton’s seventeenth-century creation epic, opening a symphonic space of fall, lament, memory and judgment.

World Premiere

15 October 2022. Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg — Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, conducted by Joana Mallwitz.

Structure

  • Prologue

  • Eve’s Lament

    • The first of the two central laments.

  • Adam’s Lament

    • The second of the two central laments.

  • Epilogue

Work Information

Full Title
Symphony No. 5 “Paradise Lost”
Scoring
For orchestra.
Year
2022
Duration
35′
Instrumentation
picc.1.1.corA.Ebcl.bcl.1.dbn — 2.2.1.btrbn.1 — perc(3): tgl/crot/bird-whistles/cyms/tam-t/t.bells/aquaphone(l)/watergong/glsp/vib/marimba — hp — ondes martenot — str.
Abbreviations PDF
Expanded Forces
Piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon; two horns, two trumpets, trombone, bass trombone and tuba; three percussionists; harp; ondes Martenot; strings.
Percussion
Triangle, crotales, bird-whistles, cymbals, tam-tam, tubular bells, large aquaphone, watergong, glockenspiel, vibraphone and marimba.
Source
John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
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.
World Premiere
15 October 2022 — Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg; Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, conducted by Joana Mallwitz.
Publisher
Published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski .
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski for the world.
Rental
Score and rental materials: Zinfonia .

Symphonic World

Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5, Paradise Lost, takes its title from John Milton’s seventeenth-century creation epic. Rather than retelling the poem, the symphony creates an orchestral space of fall, lament and reflection.

Framed by a prologue and an epilogue, the work places the laments of the first humans, Eve and Adam, at the center. These laments do not function as narrative illustration; they become states of consciousness after loss, music after exile, and memory after rupture.

The symphony also draws on material from Auerbach’s earlier work Eve’s Lament from 2019. The connection gives Paradise Lost a genealogical depth: an earlier fragment of grief is absorbed into a larger symphonic architecture.

“In a subtle, highly subjective way, it invites the listener to reflect on different perspectives.”

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.

Postulate

Adam’s Lament and Eve’s Lament

In Paradise Lost, the loss of Eden is not only a sentence of exile. It is the beginning of human consciousness after innocence: the first knowledge of memory, guilt, love, mortality and the future.

Eve’s Lament

Eve’s lament may be understood as the grief of parting from Paradise itself: the garden as lost body, lost home and lost maternal world. Her sorrow is intimate, immediate and embodied — a farewell to the place where life first opened and where innocence can no longer remain.

Adam’s Lament

Adam’s lament may be understood as the grief of historical consciousness: the recognition that the Fall does not end with him, but opens into the suffering of all generations to come. His sorrow is not only for Paradise lost, but for the human future now marked by death, labor, memory and moral responsibility.

Together, the two laments form the emotional axis of Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5: Eve mourns the lost world; Adam foresees the wounded world to come. Between them stands the first human music after exile — lament as the beginning of history.

Online Materials

Resources

Publisher, rental, score and catalogue references for Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5, Paradise Lost.

  • Listening

    Educational listening access for Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5, Paradise Lost, opens in the canonical listening notice and video pop-up.

    Vimeo
  • Catalogue
    Full Catalogue

    Internal catalogue reference for Lera Auerbach’s complete composition list.

    leraauerbach.com
  • Publisher
    Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski Work Page

    Official publisher page with duration, scoring, programme note, premiere information, territory and availability.

    Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski
  • Materials
    Score and Rental Material

    Search for rental materials through Zinfonia.

    Zinfonia
  • Reference
    Abbreviations PDF

    Boosey & Hawkes standard scoring and instrumentation abbreviations.

    Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski logo for Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5

Publisher and Materials

Lera Auerbach Symphony No. 5 is published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski. Score and rental materials are available through Zinfonia.