Rubardt: Symphony schedules musical tour of Europe
Peter Rubardt, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra 7:17 p.m. CST February 26, 2016
Pensacola Symphony Orchestra presents Ashley Brown "Home for the Holidays" with guest conductor Brad Haak and the Pensacola Children's Chorus.(Photo: Phil Bailey/GoPensacola.com)Buy Photo
We all have a bit of wanderlust, a desire to explore the world and get fresh perspectives from other cultures. But just in case you don't have a multi-national journey planned in the near future, there is another great way to expand your horizons. On March 5, the Pensacola Symphony will take a trip through Europe, hosted by four of our favorite composers. Along the way we'll hear the folk melodies, see the landscapes, watch the dances and sample the legends that shaped these four distinct cultures.
The idea of writing music that celebrates one's country swept across Europe during the 19th century, and nobody took it up with more zeal than the great Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. Virtually everything he wrote reflects his love for his native land. His most famous piece is "The Moldau," named after the river that starts in the mountains of Bohemia and flows through Prague. The music describes a journey down the river in loving musical detail. It begins with a single flute playing a sinuous line depicting a thin stream of water in the mountains. A second flute is added as two streams flow together, and clarinets join in as the stream gets larger. As the cellos lead the rest of the orchestra in, the violins break into one of the most memorable and beloved melodies in classical music. Episodes follow depicting life along the shores of the river: a hunting party, a peasant dance, a country wedding, a tranquil pond with mist rising from the surface. Every vignette gives us a glimpse of the Bohemian culture. The final scene is the great rapids outside of Prague, and Smetana gets the full apparatus of the large romantic orchestra worked up to a fever pitch before floating past the castle Vysehrad, the basis of many Czech legends. "The Moldau" is a tour de force of descriptive music, a grand introduction to Bohemian culture in a mere 12 minutes.
From the mountains of Bohemia, we move to Spain. Manuel de Falla was unquestionably Spain's greatest composer, and "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" is his masterpiece. It's a most unusual work: exotic, colorful, lush and restless at the same time. It's scored for a large orchestra and piano soloist, but this is no typical concerto. Instead of standing in opposition to the orchestra, the soloist is constantly woven into the orchestra, punctuating the orchestral sound with glittering cascades of passagework and unexpected keyboard effects. The three movements describe famous gardens in Spain, drawing on a wide range of dance styles to portray the intoxicating evening atmosphere. The great Italian pianist Roberto Plano will be joining us for this exquisite music.
After intermission, we're off to the northern reaches of Finland, and the great expanses of Boreal forests that are home to Tapio, the legendary god of the northern forests. Jean Sibelius had a life-long obsession with Finnish legends, turning to them for inspiration throughout his career. In "Tapiola," he captures both the eerie beauty of these great forests and the haunting character of the god that watches over them. It was the last piece he wrote, and the musical language is utterly original. After writing this tantalizing piece, he gave up composing, remaining silent for the remaining 30 years of his life. For fans of Sibelius — and I am unabashedly one — "Tapiola" is the holy grail.
And finally, we close with Respighi's "Roman Festivals," a cacophonous and exuberant celebration of all things Italian. Written for a mammoth orchestra (including eight percussionists, the Saenger organ and, yes, a mandolin, among countless other effects), its four movements paint scenes of violence, worship, drunkenness, peaceful landscapes, songs and dances, amorous pursuits, and more. Rarely — if ever — has a composer stuffed more character and color into a single piece of music. The ending is one of the loudest things an orchestra will ever play, a fitting conclusion to a most stimulating evening of music.
Want to go?
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