The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Community Engagement Concert on Saturday, Nov 14 will feature music by Mozart, Bach and Grieg. Listen to snippets on iTunes to give you an idea about what you will hear that night (only so much better because it will be LIVE!). You can also purchase individual songs or the entire mix from iTunes. Click on “Read more” at the bottom of this post for more detailed information about the pieces and their composers.
Mozart Symphony No. 30 in D major, K. 186b[202]
Of all of Mozart’s symphonies, this is the one most often forgotten. It is routinely passed over in favor of his other blockbuster hits. This is partially because this symphony is less “serious” than those composed around it. When Mozart wrote this symphony, he was only eighteen years old; even though he had already shown the world his great talents, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t allowed to act his age on occasion! Mozart composed symphonies for a variety of reasons and uses. Sometimes a symphony would act as an overture to a concert of other works – a call to attention for a rowdy crowd; on other occasions it might be the center of attention itself. Above all, during the time that Mozart lived, the “symphony” form itself had not yet become the imposing monument we’re inclined to take it for today. Far from it. What a treat it is to hear the young, teenage Mozart writing music as if he’s having the time of his life!
Bach Concerto in C minor for Oboe, Violin, and String Orchestra, BWV 1060
When music comes from so long ago it can sometimes get lost in translation. Instruments have changed, as well as notation, leading to works that we consider originals today that are not all that close to the composer’s intentions. However these discrepancies are noted and studied intensely by musicologists everywhere. For this concerto, the only arrangement we have from Bach’s time is for two harpsichords. Scholars today have reconstructed an earlier arrangement, which most likely included an oboe and violin. Regardless, the music is Bach’s and it is just as lovely through these changes as it ever was.
Grieg Holberg Suite, Opus 40
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote his Holberg Suite as part of the celebrations commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of the writer, Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). He was considered the father of Scandinavian literature. Like Grieg, Holberg was born in Bergen, Norway. Grieg originally composed his Holberg Suite as a series of solo piano pieces he called “From Holberg’s Time.” Given that Holberg lived during the same time as such composers as J.S. Bach and Handel, Grieg sought to evoke the mood and style of a Baroque keyboard suite. Upon its first performance the suite immediately earned the audience’s approval, and Grieg later arranged the work as a “suite in the olden style for String Orchestra.” The Holberg Suite’s expert and winning combination of Baroque structure and Romantic lyricism has long charmed audiences. It remains one of Grieg’s most popular works.