2019-20 Season in Review

Continuing our exploration of music to be performed with conductor Josh Condon and the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra on May 12, we look at Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's famous tone poem, FINLANDIA. Originally written as a covert protest piece against the occupying Russian Empire for the Press Celebrations of 1899, the piece was featured as an accompaniment a dramatic tableaux depicting the history of the Finnish people. The middle section, featuring a hymn-like chorale with winds--and later, strings--took the world by storm and has spun out countless adaptions, such as the songs Be Still My Soul, At the Table, Land of the Pine, This is My Song, Our Farewell Song, and others. Sibelius sums up the piece's narrative thusly: “We fought 600 years for our freedom and I am part of the generation which achieved it. Freedom! My Finlandia is the story of this fight. It is the song of our battle, our hymn of victory.” While originally intended to rouse a spirit of patriotism of the Finnish people, the piece entered popular culture; and in the opinion of famed conductor Leopold Stokowski, the melody could be thought of as "a worldwide anthem".

2024 marks not only the 100-year anniversary of George Gershwin’s RHAPSODY IN BLUE, but also Ottorino Respighi’s tone poem THE PINES OF ROME. I will be conducting this amazing work with the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra on May 12! THE PINES OF ROME tells a tells a fascinating story in musical pictures. Over the course of four movements representing different areas of the city, the tone poem gives us a history of the city as if “the trees could talk.” We travel from day to night, ending with the dawn; and from the contemporary city of the 20th century gradually backwards in time to the Roman Republic. We hear children playing, growing up to become soldiers marching in the distance and gradually entering the city center. This piece was also notable to be the first “classical” concert piece to include a pre-recording to be played along with the orchestra – which happens to be a recording of the first live bird ever recorded! Come on out to learn about this absolutely magical piece!