Niles Luther, the Brooklyn Museum's Composer in Residence, wrote the symphony in this gallery after immersing himself in the Venetian environment that inspired Monet. Luther's practice transposes the essence of visual artworks into the language and experience of music
Souvenir: Venise d'après Monet mirrors the structure of the paintings.
Its movements are titled after and correspond to their motifs-the Palazzo Ducale, San Giorgio Maggiore, Le Grand Canal, the Palazzo Contarini-and a central passacaille (a musical form based on repetition, evoking Monet's approach) reveals the emotional core beneath the artist's shimmering surfaces.
Contemporaneous critics often interpreted Monet's paintings through the lens of musicality, citing his symphonies of color and subtle harmonies, and likening his delicate brushstrokes to the notes of an orchestra. For one writer, the Venice paintings were "variations upon a theme of color analogous to those of sound." Like Luther's symphony, Monet's paintings envelop, unfold, and are continually renewed with each encounter.