The final concert of our 2023/2024 season will take place at 7.30pm on April 6, 2024 at The First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara.
Our program, under the direction of returning conductor Emmanuel Fratianni, features:
Fauré – Pelléas et Mélisande Suite
Gabriel Fauré derived his Pelléas et Mélisande Suite from incidental music written for an 1898 London production of Maurice Maeterlinck’s play. To meet a tight deadline, Fauré reused earlier material from incomplete works, enlisting the help of his pupil Charles Koechlin to orchestrate the music. Fauré later constructed the four-movement suite from the theatre score, orchestrating it himself.
Ástor Piazzolla (arr. Marturet) – Adios Nonino
Argentine tango composer Ástor Piazzolla wrote Adiós Nonino (Farewell Granddaddy) in 1959 while in New York, after hearing of his father’s death in a bicycle accident. This news, coupled with homesickness and the failure of his tour of Spanish-speaking America, led Piazzolla to depression, and the melancholic melody became a symbol of the Argentine diaspora. The Berliner Symphoniker included this piece in their 2006 Latin Grammy nominated album, Encantamento.
Brahms – Serenade Op.11 No. 1
Brahms wrote two serenades in 1856 while he worked on his Piano Concerto No. 1, when he was living in Detmold and had access to an orchestra. His goal was to match Ludwig van Beethoven’s compositional skills, and it took another 20 years before Brahm’s completed his first symphony at the age of 43. He originally scored this first Serenade for wind and string nonet and then expanded it into a longer work for chamber orchestra.
Tickets are now available on the door for $20. K-12 students are admitted free.