91Èȱ¬

A musical journey from Germany to the USA with the 91Èȱ¬ 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 91Èȱ¬ 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