RedlandsSymphony

DVORAK 1841-1904

Orchestration

2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings

Program Notes

Antonin Dvořák was popular during his lifetime because he appealed to both conservative and radical musicians. He was able to combine an admiration for earlier composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Wagner) with a respect for and understanding of contemporary musical developments such as nationalism. Additionally, he was respected by his Czech countrymen. As a Czech, he was able to remain above the disagreements that tended to divide both French and, especially, German composers. His equal comfort writing choral music, operas, chamber music, and orchestral music helped him avoid the narrow appeal that sometimes plagued specialist composers.

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RACHMANINOFF 1873-1943

Orchestration

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, solo piano, and strings

Program Notes

Sergei Rachmaninoff was not only a highly competent composer and the last great representative of the Russian Romantic tradition, but also one of the outstanding pianists of his age. His highly personal compositional style made use of the best element from the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, fused with a strong sense of lyricism. Unlike most of his immediate predecessors in Russia, he did not view composition as a dilettante past-time.

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Maestro Jon Robertson is now in his twenty-sixth season as music director and conductor or the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. The extraordinary quality of this orchestra is attributed to the blend of devotion he has for the musicians and his artistic vision.

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Russian pianist, Valeriya Polunina, was born into an artistic family in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and began concertizing internationally before she was a teenager. Since making her orchestral debut at the age of 15 with Russia’s renowned BACH Chamber Orchestra, Ms. Polunina has made a graceful transition from child to mature artist, displaying both technical prowess and elegant artistry. 

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