Andy Lenko

I wrote a symphony, and this is its origin story.

Getting Started

As a composer, I had long dreamed of writing a symphony, so in 2019 I began composing The Triumphant, Symphony No.1. Faced with personal adversity and difficult growth, I had a lot to process musically. It became the motivation I needed to tackle the large-scale form of a symphony. 

I had loved orchestral music and delighted in symphonies for many years. I was inspired by the great symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Mahler, and others. Their works gave me confidence and inspiration for The Triumphant. If I wasn’t sure where to go with an idea, there was always help to be found in their scores.

Timeline

After beginning The Triumphant in the Fall of 2019, it quickly became a passion project I worked on almost every day. By the end of the Spring of 2020, I had finished it. I did it. I had finally joined the ranks of the composers I so admired by writing a symphony.

Other than sharing it with a handful of friends, listening to it for my own enjoyment, and using the first movement for my graduate school application, I had no immediate plans for The Triumphant. The idealist in me wanted to wait until I “made it” as a composer and had orchestras asking to perform and record my works. So it sat on my computer for six years. 

The Decision

After years of saying someday, I finally decided to release The Triumphant on streaming platforms. I wanted to get my music out into the public space for people to hear. As a warm-up, I released An American Miniature in 2025, a short orchestral piece. Then I gently revised each movement of the symphony. I say gently because I didn’t want to get caught in the trap of in-depth rewrites or revisions. If I were to indulge myself, I could revise and tweak for months, years, or decades. 

What’s It About?

The Triumphant is not a programmatic work. It doesn’t follow a detailed script or narrative to depict particular scenes or characters. That said, music-making can easily be understood as storytelling. For example, sonata-allegro form is a classic story framework. You meet the themes (characters) in the exposition, the rising and climactic action occurs in the development, and the falling action or transformation of the themes is observed in the recapitulation.  Story can be used to make sense of each movement individually as well as the symphony as a whole. To talk about The Triumphant’s trajectory, I’ll use the generic but ever-relevant narrative of a hero’s journey.

The hero begins the story confident and cheerful. But in due time, he experiences a crisis and begins to work through the adversity. In the second movement, the hero is still working through the adversity, particularly inner turmoil and angst. The anxious and brooding theme that opens and closes the movement captures this mood. When the third movement begins, the hero still has doubt and insecurity to overcome, evidenced by the playfulness of the opening and closing theme.  Finally, the hero emerges victorious and transformed in the fourth movement.

How The Recording Was Made

Neither orchestras nor record labels have come calling, so I released The Triumphant using NotePerformer by Wallander Instruments. It’s an affordable sample library that seamlessly integrates with my notation software, Sibelius. I find it realistic-sounding enough to be comfortable releasing my orchestral music with it at this point in my career. If a live performance or recording is ever made, I’ll be sure to let you know. 

Looking Ahead

I refer to The Triumphant as Symphony No.1 because I intend to write more. Yes, I consider myself an aspiring modern-day symphonist compelled to compose. Time will tell if my symphonic works reach any acclaim, but in the meantime I’ll keep on writing for my enjoyment and hopefully yours. 

If you haven’t listened to The Triumphant yet, you can stream it wherever you find music.

P.S. – Want to stay up to date with my music-making? Join my email newsletter here.

About Andy Lenko

I’m a composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist aspiring to “stand before kings” (Prov. 22:29).