Victoria Symphony with Annabelle Stanley, Harp

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Saturday, March 14th, 2015
7:30 PM

Cowichan Symphony Society presents the Victoria Symphony with Tania Miller, conductor and Annabelle Stanley, Harp. Handel, Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 2 in F Saint-Saëns, Morceau de concert in G for harp and orchestra Dvorak, Wind Serenade Op. 44 Handel, Harp concerto Op. 4 No. 6 Mozart, Symphony No. 38 “Prague” Handel, Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 2 Handel wrote the Twelve “Grand Concertos” for a small baroque string orchestra. Written to be played during performances of the composer’s oratorios and odes, Handel incorporated into the movements the full range of his compositional styles. They were largely composed of new material, being amongst the finest examples in the genre of baroque concerto grosso.

Saint-Saëns, Morceau de concert in G for harp and orchestra

Saint-Saëns' fluency lasted him into his old age, when he wrote this Morceau de concert, piece rather in the nature of a small scale four-movement concerto. Dvorak, Wind Serenade Op 44 The Serenade evokes the old-world atmosphere of the Rococo period castles, where the worlds of the aristocracy and the common folk merged. It is composed in a "Slavonic style" (shortly before the Slavonic Dances), and the middle part of the second movement contains rhythms reminiscent of the furiant dance form.

Handel, Harp Concerto Op 4 No 6

True to himself, Georg Friedrich Handel took advantage of the harp's beautiful sounds in order to show off his own exceptional sense of colour and brilliance in the guise of a magnificent and familiar concerto.

Mozart, Symphony No. 38 “Prague”

Although Mozart's popularity among the Viennese waxed and waned, he was consistently popular among the Bohemians and had a devoted following in Prague where Symphony No. 38 was first performed. The lavish use of wind instruments might offer a clue that the Prague Symphony was fashioned specifically with the Prague public in mind. The wind players of Bohemia were famed throughout Europe, and the use of wind instruments inthe Prague Symphony represents a major advance in Mozart's symphonic technique that was imitated in his last symphonies, and also by Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert. In virtually every bar of this piece, you hear him straining at the limits of what his invention, his orchestra, and the symphony can do. It is the opening movement that is the Prague's most endlessly fascinating phenomenon. It is to do with a combination of its structure, size, and contrapuntal complexity. This is the longest single symphony movement of the 8th century. Hear it and hear it again. There is a reason, -– you need at least another time around the block to make sense of what is going on. In fact, a lifetime of listening will not exhaust its vast magical richness.

http://www.cowichanpac.ca/event/victoria-symphony-0