³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A musical journey from Germany to the USA with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Jonathan Bloxham.

Richard Wagner’s atmospheric Prelude to his opera Lohengrin(1848) is followed by Kurt Weill’s visceral response in 1941 to the bombing of Pearl Harbour – his setting of four powerful poems by the great American poet Walt Whitman, sung by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3 New Generation Artist James Atkinson. Weill, the German-born Jewish émigré, fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and made his home in the USA. 

There’s a short ±ô²â°ù¾±³¦²¹±ôÌýwork for strings by Florence Price, the first African-American woman recognized as an orchestral composer, and the concert ends with Charles Ives’ recreation (complete with the sound of a marching band) of Decoration Day – the US federal holiday honouring US military personnel who have died in line of duty. It’s one of the four colourful movements from Ives’ A New England Holiday Symphony (1887-1913).

Programme:
Richard Wagner Prelude to 'Lohengrin' 
Kurt Weill Walt Whitman Songs 
Florence Price Andante cantabile, for string orchestra 
Charles Ives Decoration Day 

Jonathan Bloxham conductor
James Atkinson baritone