Music : McGurty Premiere by L.B. Symphony

Mark McGurty’s “Denizens of the Realm, Faerie,” the first work ever commissioned by the Long Beach Symphony, received its premiere Saturday night.

Like other works by the orchestra’s 35-year-old composer-in-residence, “Denizens” makes few concessions to popular tastes or trendy musical styles. This 27-minute, two-movement work is something of a throwback to the large orchestral pieces of the Second Viennese School, with angular atonal themes, muscular orchestration, complex textures and thematic workmanship.

Although music inspired by the “Faerie” of the title can be heard--glistening upper strings, tinkling bells and harps--most of the work, from its granitic brass declamations and percussion punctuations to its slow-moving syncopated lines, vibrates with expressionistic frenzy, moves with the formidable power of a Germanic giant. Conductor JoAnn Falletta and orchestra offered an energetic account.

Concertmaster Roger Wilkie, filling in on short notice for the ailing Pamela Frank, gave a technically assured, gently singing performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. This Terrace Theater concert concluded with a nimble but sometimes slapdash reading of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.”.