A Colorful Symphony (1987)

For Narrator and Orchestra
Text from The Phantom Toll Booth by Norton Juster

Duration:  20 minutes
Narrator; 3(pic)222/4331/timp.3perc/hp.pf/str
Published full score for sale

Commissioned by The National Endowment for the Arts
for the Indianapolis and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras and
the Buffalo Philharmonic

Premiere Performance:  May 22, 1988; Indianapolis Symphony;
Michael Morgan, Conductor; Wes Sanders, Narrator

Based on a classic children’s story, A Colorful Symphony has become a
musical classic in its own right, with regular performances throughout
the United States on youth and family concerts.

Reviews:

... a work that would delight children and adults alike... Rodríguez’ symphony works on all levels, as a charming story of a boy, Milo, who finds himself in a magic land where sounds and colors are the same, as a guide to the orchestra’s various sections and instruments and, simply, as a piece of music.
                  Charles Staff, Indianapolis News

“...a closely knit union of imaginative words and music... The story tone-poem deserves a long life.
                  Jay Harvey, The Indianapolis Star

...one of the finest compositions addressed to young audiences.  Not since Prokofiev's 1936 Peter and the Wolf and Britten's 1945 Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra has such a piece entered the repertoire. 
                     Gary L. Good, Executive Director,
                     Milwaukee Symphony