MEMBER EVENT: Racine Symphony Fall Masterworks Concert

This Masterworks concert is music for the Mind, Body, and Soul.
 
The three works on the program represent an intriguing mix of the ideals of the Classical Enlightenment, a mid-20th century take on the Baroque, and a work of the heart (yes, one should bring a handkerchief).
 
Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” is his last symphony, completed in 1788. It is a tour de force of the Classical style period. It is the largest, structurally, of his symphonies, and most complex. In many ways, it is a harbinger of the Romantic era with Beethoven as the central figure of that stylistic shift. This work’s brilliance influenced other composers, such as Beethoven and Schumann, and even included Haydn, who was Mozart’s senior in age and reputation. The finale is a fugal treatment of no less than five separate themes, the first drawn from an old church hymn. The extraordinary counterpoint is a clear reference to the music and ideas of J.S. Bach - it will simply blow your mind!
 
Stravinsky composed the Concerto in D for String Orchestra when he was living in Hollywood in 1946 and had recently become a naturalized citizen of the United States. The work is also known as the Basle Concerto for the city of Basel, Switzerland where it was first commissioned and per-formed. Tennis fans may know this city as the birthplace of Roger Federer. This is one of Stravinsky’s last tonal works, and it utilizes what is referred to as neo-Baroque structural ideas such as the Baroque concerto grosso.
 
The Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky is a stunningly gorgeous work for strings. Completed in 1880 with multiple references to Mozart, Tchaikovsky wrote “The first movement is my homage to Mozart.” However, the emotional content of this work is clearly of the Romantic era, very personal, and very much Russian in its sensibilities.