John D. Gottsch spent his youth in the lake country of Florida, which instilled in him a love of nature that has informed his music ever since. His symphonic poem Sunset is almost cinematic in its opulence and in its depiction of both the beauty and fragility of Key West, and the area’s vulnerability to climate change. By contrast, Princess Yurievskaya charts the passionate love of Catherine Dolgorukova and Tsar Alexander II from their first meeting and eventual marriage, to his assassination. This vivid narrative is full of exciting dances and torrid romance, irradiated with evocative orchestral solos.