Things take an eclectic turn with the GSO’s opening performance of the season. The music of four composers who failed to reach the age of forty sets the scene and asks the question of how their music would have developed had they not each met an untimely, and early death.
Georges Bizet never lived long enough to know how hugely popular his opera Carmen would become. After its initial failure, it eventually rose to become a staple of operatic repertoire, and features many iconic pieces including the memorable Habanera.
The American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes’ tone poem The Pleasure Dome of the Kubla Khan combines orchestral colors similar to that of Debussy or Ravel while also incorporating post-romantic Germanic and Russian-sounding worlds. But this emulation is not to be confused with imitation as Griffes was a composer with a clearly defined voice.
Lili Boulanger is perhaps one of the biggest losses in the classical music world. Being only 24 at the time of her passing, she had already won accolades and was advancing the art of classical music. Her evolving style and mastery of orchestral and choral forces are on full display in Pour les funérailles d’un soldat and Vieille prière bouddhique, the latter being a setting of a Buddhist’s daily prayer.
Program
Georges Bizet Carmen Suites No. 1 & 2
Charles Tomlinson Griffes The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan
Felix MendelssohnVerleih uns Frieden gnädiglich
Lili Boulanger Pour les funérailles d’un soldat
Lili Boulanger Vieille prière bouddhique (Old Buddhist Prayer)
Featured Artists
Jawan Jenkins, baritone
Jonathan Pilkington, tenor
GSO Chorus
Bryan Black, GSOC Chorus Director
Georgia Symphony Orchestra
Timothy Verville, Music Director & Conductor
Venue Information
