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LJS&C Press Releases
Season Concludes in Light with Strauss'
"Death & Transfiguration," plus Haydn, Varèse, and
the 2008 Thomas Nee Commission
La Jolla, Calif. (May 19, 2008) — A season that began in light concludes in light as Music Director Steven Schick leads the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus (LJS&C) in a concert highlighted by Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, a moving tone-poem about the transfiguration of the human soul. The program opens with the energetic Symphony No. 102 by Franz Joseph Haydn followed by Offrandes—the LJS&C's first performance of music by that great American maverick Edgard Varese, featuring soprano Stephanie Aston. Also on this concert is the premiere of Snow in June by this year's recipient of the Thomas Nee Commission, Taiwanese-born Kueiju Lin.
"The concert blends two romantic tone-poems, the Strauss and Nee Commission, with more classical statements represented by Varese and Haydn," says Maestro Schick. "I think it will be a very satisfying concert, beginning with the Haydn, which is energetic and delightful—almost quirky—and concluding with the beautiful and moving Strauss."
Haydn's Symphony No. 102 in B-flat Major is the tenth of the twelve symphonies he composed for London audiences. Completed in January 1795, it is considered one of Haydn's best, full of variety and showing the greatest qualities of the London symphony series. He builds the entire work on a small sequence of notes that seems insignificant at first. This sequence is taken from the first movement into recognizable relationships in the minuet and trio before closing with a humorous finale.
Edgard Varèse was an innovative composer born in France, who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Offrandes (Offerings), scored for soprano and chamber orchestra, was written in 1921 and is based on poems by two Latin-American writers: Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro and Mexican poet José Juan Tablada. The work emphasizes color, intensity, and instrumental attack. Eight percussion instruments are used in ever-changing combinations and in a constantly varied dynamic against stormy instrumental parts and a chromatic soprano line. Kueiju Lin, born in Taipei in 1976, based Snow in June on a 13th century Chinese drama, "The Injustice to Dou-Eh," which depicts the tale of a young woman (Dou-Eh) who confesses to a crime she did not commit to spare her adopted mother. The title echoes one of three prophecies made by Dou-Eh as she marches to the execution ground: that as her spirit leaves the earth, a heavy snow will fall even though it is summer. Scored for orchestra, chorus and soprano (Stephanie Aston), the chorus begins the piece dispersed around the auditorium and eventually gathers on stage as the crowd to grieve for Dou-Eh.
Richard Strauss, particularly noted for his tone-poems and operas, completed Death and Transfiguration in 1889 when he was only 25 years old. The music depicts the death of an artist who, as he lies dying, recalls his life from innocent childhood to the struggles of coming of age, attaining worldly goals, and ultimately, transfiguration after death. Critics said of the premiere performance in 1890 at the Eisenbach Festival that the music was too spectacular and brilliant for a journey that one must make alone.
The performances take place June 7-8, 2008 in Mandeville Auditorium at UCSD. Concert times are 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Individual tickets are $26 general, $22 senior, and $15 student. Group discounts are available. Parking is free. A pre-concert lecture is offered one hour prior to concert times. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the LJS&C office at (858) 534-4637 or visit www.lajollasymphony.com.
The La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, San Diego's oldest and largest community orchestra and chorus, is a non-profit musical performing group, whose 110-person orchestra and 130-voice chorus perform ground-breaking, traditional and contemporary classical music. During the 53rd season, Maestro Steven Schick shares the podium with Choral Director David Chase.
