The selections on this program are by composers who conscientiously worked to break the mold of the orchestral forms of their time: Debussy rendezvoused with poets and artists who influenced the young composer to somehow bring impressionism into music. For Takemitsu, Western music was itself an escape from post-war occupied Japan and he experimented with it. Shostakovich, in over 15 symphonies, sought to imbibe each with the most intense feelings of their time, from revolution to despair and resilience.

In Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun, a solo flute player in the orchestra evokes the imagery of the mythical Pan and his enchanting flute. Pan—Greek god of the fields and music—wakes up from a nap and tries to remember his dream, only to fall asleep again, hoping to meet his nymph friends in his next dream.

In Takemitsu’s Requiem for String Orchestra, he utilized early 20th century tonalities by Western composers such Arnold Schoenberg and made his own experimental mark on 20th century art music. Coincidentally, Igor Stravinsky heard this Requiem and sang its praises to American and European classical artists.

Shostakovich wrote his Sixth Symphony in curious proportions: The first movement is a lengthy largo (slow and yet also serious) and features a beautiful English horn solo and haunting solos on flute and piccolo that are reminiscent of the flute solo in Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun. The second movement by contrast is a short scherzo filled with delightful rhythmic tricks, and as if one scherzo wasn’t enough, Shostakovich ends the symphony with another. It’s full of excited string work and bombastic — almost a study for his later Festive Overture.

Program

Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, L. 86

Tōru Takemitsu: Requiem for String Orchestra

Dimitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor

$12 Students and Children, $24 Adults (Reserved Seating)