For a composer, the orchestra represents what a full-color palette offers a painter-the opportunity to create, in every imaginable color and hue, the vivid experience of life itself. The silky warmth of the strings, the majesty of the brass, the evocative sound of the woodwinds and the timbres of various percussion instruments are only the beginning; a fine composer mixes instruments from the four sections to create a rich rainbow of sounds.
Hear the dark hues used by German Richard Wagner contrasted with the paler textures of the Englishman Edward Elgar. Celebrate the command of colors by French composer Paul Dukas whose “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is certainly a favorite of many from childhood acquaintance with Disney’s Fantasia! Savor the kaleidoscopic colors of another German composer, Richard Strauss, and buckle up for the exhilarating piece by American John Adams.
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience conducting by a finalist in the WSO’s Music Director search!
Wagner: Die Walküre-Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music
Elgar: Dream Children, op. 43
Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Suite
Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine