Symphony Performances Strike Familiar Chord for Spring

Three upcoming performances will round out the season for the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra and BYU Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra livestreamed performance March 30, 7:30 p.m.

For its final concert of the season, the BYU Symphony Orchestra will present a selection of symphonic works inspired by dance, titled “Dancing into Spring!”

“The program will take us from the rousing, rhythmic Slavonic culture of Dvořák, through the impressionistic atmospheres of Debussy, to familiar ballet favorites by Copland and Tchaikovsky,” said director Eric Hansen

School of Music harp professor Nicole Brady will be featured as a special guest soloist for Debussy’s ethereal yet sunny “Danse Sacre et Profane.”

“The concert will conclude with Ponchieli’s ‘Dance of the Hours,’ humorously imagined in Disney’s ‘Fantasia,’” Hansen said. “Join us on the livestream — this concert will have you tapping your toes, or even up on your feet twirling around the room!”

Philharmonic Orchestra livestreamed performances April 1 and April 14, 7:30 p.m.

Two separate performances by the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra will wrap up the season with a focus on works by beloved composers Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.

“The April 1 concert will feature music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, and will include ‘Finlandia’ and his Symphony No. 2 in D Major,” said director Christian Smith. “Written in 1900, ‘Finlandia’ is a symphonic poem that evoked Finland’s national struggle for independence at the time. The hymn section of the piece has become the composer’s most recognizable music the world over, and was later re-worked by Sibelius as a stand-alone choral piece.”

Smith explained that Symphony No. 2 is probably the most often performed of the seven symphonies written by Sibelius. “It is unabashedly romantic in style, even though it was written during an era when many composers were trending toward a more modernist flair,” Smith said. “The composer himself described his second symphony as ‘a confession of the soul.’”

The Philharmonic performance on April 14 will showcase two masterworks: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian,” and Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.”

“The subtitle ‘Little Russian’ is partly due to the fact that Tchaikovsky began composing the work during an extended visit with his younger sister in Ukraine, affectionately known as Little Russia at the time,” Smith said. “During Tchaikovsky’s stay he often heard the singing of Ukrainian folk songs in the community, several of which became the foundation of the symphony.”

The four-movement “Symphonic Metamorphosis” combines traditional and novel musical ideals of the 20th century. “Hindemith’s interest in the polyphony of Bach, the modal writing of Bartok, the lyricism of Puccini, and big band jazz are all present, as well as his own musical innovations,” Smith said.