The San Luis Obispo Symphony is excited to showcase our community’s talented musicians in our fourth concert of the season, Sounds Like Home. The Central Coast has a proud musical tradition, and this concert is an opportunity to shine a light on local individuals who excel in their craft.
Be sure to arrive early for Symphonic Forays, an intimate discussion with Music Director Andrew Sewell and special guests that precedes each concert. Learn more about the evening’s musical selection, composers, and soloists in an up-close-and-personal conversation. Seating is general admission and Symphonic Forays is FREE to all ticket holders!
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) has been celebrated as one of Europe’s finest composers for centuries. Born in Austria, much of his early career was spent in the employ of the wealthy Esterházy family, composing for and directing the small court orchestra, as well as performing chamber music. When his patron passed, Haydn traveled to London, where his works were extremely popular. It was during this time that he composed some of his best loved work. His Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major is one of the finest of the genre – a concerto with more than one soloist. Though all four parts (violin, oboe, bassoon, and cello) are challenging, the balance among them is striking. No one instrument overpowers the others, and all four are given ample opportunity to shine.
Prolific a composer as he was, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) wrote only one composition for harp. At the time, the instrument was still being developed, and was not commonly used in orchestral music. However, the Duke of Guines’ daughter played the harp, and the Duke himself played the flute, and so Mozart was commissioned to compose a Concerto for Flute and Harp that they might play together. His treatment of the harp is somewhat surprising, more reminiscent of a piano than what we typically associate with the instrument today. The resulting concerto is playful and bright, and one of the most popular double concertos performed to this day.
Alberto Ginastera (1916 – 1983) is one of the most important Latin American classical composers, and frequently used traditional Argentine musical themes in his compositions. On his Variaciones concertantes, he said: “These variations have a subjective Argentine character. Instead of using folkloristic material, I try to achieve an Argentine atmosphere through the employment of my own thematic and rhythmic elements. The work begins with an original theme followed by eleven variations, each one reflecting the distinctive character of the instrument featured. All the instruments of the orchestra are treated soloistically.”
