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2008 - 2009 Symphony Season
Where Giants Dare to Tread
Beethoven’s nine symphonies cast a long shadow over generations
of composers to come. Awed by their depth and perfection, the composers
who dared follow Beethoven’s example were often giants themselves.
With Beethoven’s thunderous footsteps still echoing in
his ears, Brahms finally completed his own First Symphony at
the ripe age of forty-three. It had taken him at least fourteen
years, but its monumental and flawless design declared Brahms
to be Beethoven's worthy successor on the loftiest symphonic
heights.
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 7:30 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center
Performance Hall, Farmington, NM
Sunday, October 12, 2008, 3 PM, Community Concert Hall at
Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
Celeste Golden, violin
Copland - Fanfare
for the Common Man
Beethoven - Concerto
for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61
Brahms - Symphony
No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
New Wine: Same Bottle
The Symphony first germinated in Haydn’s hands, then bloomed
in new colors and proportions in Mozart’s. Since then the
symphonic form has enticed composers of all types to flex their
compositional muscles. In 1932, to depict the rich street life
of Harlem, jazzman James P. Johnson poured lively syncopations
and soulful hymns into the symphonic form. The result is an intoxicating
brew.
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 7:30 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center
Performance Hall, Farmington, NM
Sunday, November 23, 2008, 3 PM, Community Concert Hall at
Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
Rochelle Mann, alto flute
Rosalind Simpson, harp
Side-by-Side with high school musicians
Mozart - Symphony
No. 36 in C major, K. 425, Linz
Bizet - Carillon
and Farandole, from L’Arlésienne, Side-by-Side
Toru Takemitsu - Toward
the Sea II
James P. Johnson - Harlem
Symphony
Sketchy
Business
Schubert lived a full six years after stopping work on his
Eighth Symphony in 1822. What could have possessed him to abandon
his B minor Symphony which, even in its shortened form, has been
his most cherished work? Also on this program, American composer
Michael Daugherty resurrects another famous musician whose life
is shrouded in mystery, and Tchaikovsky breathes life into Shakespeare’s
timeless tale of star-crossed lovers.
Saturday, February 14, 2009, 7:30 PM, Community
Concert Hall at
Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
Sunday, February 15, 2009, 3 PM, Michael D. Palm Theater, Telluride,
CO
Philip Mann, guest conductor
Benjamin Kamins, bassoon
Schubert - Symphony
No. 8 in B minor, Unfinished
Vivaldi - Concerto
for Bassoon in E minor, RV484
Daugherty - Dead
Elvis
Tchaikovsky - Romeo
and Juliet, Fantasy Overture
All Things Great and Small
Inspired by Beethoven’s Ninth, Gustav Mahler said “the
symphony should be like the world – it must embrace everything.” In
the late Nineteenth century he and other Romantics wrote super-sized
symphonies that sprawled over hundreds of pages. Now, reacting
to centuries of excess, American composer Sebastian Currier wants
to show that a few minutes are sufficient to say all that needs
to be said. But Beethoven, whose final symphony broke the mold
all the way back in 1823, gets his deserved last word.
Saturday, April 18, 2009, 7:30 PM, Community Concert Hall at Fort
Lewis College, Durango, CO
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 3 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance
Hall, Farmington, NM
Gemma Kavanagh, soprano
Nan Nelson Wagner, mezzosoprano
Christopher Bengochea, tenor
Steven Meredith, bass-baritone
Durango Choral Society, Linda Mack, director
Sebastian
Currier - microsymph
Beethoven - Symphony
No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
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