Beethoven and Mozart on the Kanata Symphony's spring program
Posted Mar 5, 2010 By EMC News
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Tweet ThisEMC Events - It may still be winter, but the Kanata Symphony's upcoming concert promises music to thaw the chill and begin to welcome spring. Come join us for our spring concert on Saturday, March 6, at Glen Cairn United Church (140 Abbeyhill Dr.), at 8 p.m.
The symphony is thrilled to be presenting Beethoven's Egmont Overture, excerpts from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, featuring Iain Macpherson (violin) and Julian Hughson (viola).
A gifted vocalist and violinist, Macpherson has performed widely throughout Canada and Bermuda and has been teaching voice and violin privately for more than 15 years. He has held the position of concertmaster for the Kanata Symphony since 2007.
Hughson has played with many orchestras in the Ottawa area, including the Ottawa and Nepean Symphony Orchestras, and the Divertimento Orchestra. He currently plays with the Strings of St John's and is also principal violist with the Kanata Symphony. This is a very special chance to see two of our principal players in performance together.
The Egmont Overture, by Ludwig van Beethoven, comes from a set of incidental music pieces written from 1809-1810 to accompany the play Egmont, by Goethe. Based on a real historical figure, the Count of Egmont, the drama is set in 16th century Brussels at the time of Flemish revolt against a corrupt Spanish ruler.
The Count was a young, heroic nobleman who fought for Flemish independence but was cruelly martyred. Unexpectedly, his death spurred the Netherlanders to continue fighting until they triumphed.
The concept of victory over oppression was one, which had great meaning for Beethoven, which was why he was so eager for the opportunity to set this play to music. The Overture begins with a grave introduction, which moves into an impassioned allegro, and finishes with a brilliant flourish, which is symbolic of Egmont going proudly to his death, confident in the justness of his cause.
In 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included the musical centers Mannheim and Paris. At the time, he had been experimenting with the Sinfonia Concertante genre, which crosses the symphony and the concerto in that there is more than one featured soloist, yet both are part of the orchestra as a whole. On his tour, he was heavily influenced by the increasing dynamic and technical capabilities of the more prominent orchestras of the day. The result was the virtuosic Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in E-flat major, which is scored in three movements for solo violin, solo viola, two oboes, two horns, and strings, the latter including two sections of violas. Mozart makes skillful use of both solo instruments and features them equally throughout the entire work, there is a constant dialogue between them and also between them and the rest of the orchestra.
Felix Mendelssohn composed music for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at different times in his life, over a period spanning from 1826 to 1842.
The Overture was written when Mendelssohn was only 17, and it reflects his childhood love of Shakespeare's play, with its elements of fairies, elves, enchanted beasts, and magic.
In 1842, only a few years before his death, he was commissioned by the King of Prussia to write incidental music for a production of the play, into which he incorporated the existing Overture. This incidental music is among the most famous ever written and includes the world-renowned Wedding March. Throughout the work, Mendelssohn makes brilliant use of instrumental effects to truly evoke images of the world of fairies and magical creatures.
Although the entire piece contains vocal sections, we will be presenting only the purely instrumental movements, such as the Scherzo, the Intermezzo, the Nocturne, the Funeral March, and the Wedding March.
You will not want to miss this chance to come celebrate the impending arrival of spring.
Tickets for the concert are $10/adult, $8/student or senior, and $25/family and are available through orchestra members or at the door. Refreshments will follow after the concert. See you there!
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