The orchestra, conducted by Music Director Zeke Fetrow, performs Lili Boulanger’s D’un Matin de Printemps, Gerald Finzi’s The Fall of the Leaf, Ralph Vaughan William’s The Lark Ascending, Piotr Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7. Concertmaster Siri Smedvig is violin soloist for The Lark Ascending.
Violinist Siri Smedvig grew up in a musical Scandinavian family in Seattle, Washington. She has been a resident of Concord for 34 years. She has performed professionally with the Boston Pops (including tours with Henry Mancini), Boston Ballet Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Classical Orchestra, Harvard Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra (NYC), and currently is Concertmaster of the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra and Concord Orchestra.
Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending was inspired by a poem by George Meredith about the song of a skylark. Violin soloist Siri Smedvig says “It’s my delight to play solo violin in Ralph Vaughan William’s The Lark Ascending. By imaginatively transforming the violin’s notes into a flying, singing lark, the audience is invited into a spiritual, noble place – a pastoral scene where beauty, tenderness, and mercy abound. Vaughan Williams musically invites listeners into unity, peace and the awe of life’s interconnectedness.”
Lili Boulanger (1893–1918) was the sister of the famous composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. Lili showed great promise as a composer, but unfortunately, she was in poor health most of her life and died young. D’un Matin de Printemps is a lovely celebration of spring.
Gerald Finzi was an English composer born in 1901 whose music is influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Finzi wrote the poignant and dramatic elegy The Fall of the Leaf close to his death.
Tchaikovsky’s popular Marche Slave was written in 1876 for a benefit concert in support of wounded Serbian soldiers during the Serbo-Turkish war. At the time, Russia was about to enter the war in support of the Serbs. The slow Serbian folk song at the beginning symbolizes the oppression of the Serbs. The somber music transitions to a dance melody and then the Russian national anthem, representing the Russian effort to help the Serbs.
Jean Sibelius’ magnificent and stirring Symphony No. 7 is in one movement with a great variety of tempo changes. Only a couple years after he wrote it, Sibelius took a long break from serious composing that lasted the remainder of his life.
Tickets for adults and seniors are $25. Admission for youth under 18 is free. For tickets and information, call 978-369-4967 or visit www.concordorchestra.com.
