)
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
Dmitri Shostakovich depicts the conflicting moods and fears of the Soviet people in Symphony No. 5; Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet Ballet Suite captures the drama and passion of Shakespeare’s classic tale; and the World Premiere of Jeff Myers’ Escape, a symphonic poem that describes the calm and impending threat before, and the chaos during, a storm.
Jeff Myers on Escape:
“While writing this piece, I had the sound of my son’s toy emergency vehicles in my mind. His latest fascination with firetrucks, ambulances, and videos of tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, and other natural disasters was also constantly present. I found it almost impossible to write anything other than a reflection of this environment. Sirens, horns, beeping sounds, wind, rain, and chaos fed my musical ideas as I wrote. It only seemed natural to make a piece of music about an impending disaster, or at least some kind of panic inducing threat. In my mind I hear a commotion of people trying to evacuate a disaster zone, with sirens, alarms, traffic, and sounds of chaos. Then there is calm before the event while the last few people either flee or hunker down. The event happens and it is glorious: overwhelming in its magnitude, I can only imagine a sense of awe from those in the distance and the heroic disposition of those willing to stay behind.”
About the Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Soviet chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Nevertheless, he received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947–1962) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death).
Read More ››Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev (23 April 1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous musical genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His works include such widely heard works as the March from The Love for Three Oranges, the suite Lieutenant Kijé, the ballet Romeo and Juliet – from which “Dance of the Knights” is taken – and Peter and the Wolf. Of the established forms and genres in which he worked, he created – excluding juvenilia – seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas.
Read More ››Jeff Myers
The music of Jeff Myers (b.1977) has been called “Striking…and harmonically rich” by the New York Times and “…brilliant and powerful…” by The Classical Voice of New England. New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini called him “a gifted young composer” in the latest review of his opera Buried Alive. Many of his works incorporate themes from Asian folk genres (kulintang and gamelan music), visual art (Escher), literature (Poe, Baudelaire, Rimbaud) and acoustic phenomena (overtone harmony and microtonality). Electronic sounds and instruments (Disklavier, amplified machines, drones) have been used in several of his works to achieve special or complex soundscapes. His recent large scale project Book of Islands involves a series of individual compositions that are based on characteristic islands or island themes, incorporating geographic, cultural, conceptual or linguistic features of various islands. The first set of pieces includes E—- (for loadbang ensemble), He mele no kane (for soprano Rachel Schutz and pianist Jon Korth) and The Hula Pa-Ipu for One Quiet Plunge.
Read More ››
