Program Notes: Carnival of the Animals (April 1-3, 2021)
This concert is music of rebirth. There is sunrise, nature, the hope of Spring. French and American cultures unite, giving us two dawns.
top of page
tales from backstage, at the hall, and in the community
with the st. louis symphony orchestra
- Mar 19, 2021
- 5 min
Program Notes: Songs, Prayers, and Rituals (March 26-28, 2021)
Our Spring season opens with music to cleanse your spirit: J.S. Bach, Ester Mägi, Arvo Pärt, and Dmitri Shostakovich.
- Mar 8, 2021
- 4 min
Program Notes for the SLSO's first Chamber Music Livestream: Musical Smirks
This is a program of rogue moments, of creators letting loose.
- Mar 1, 2021
- 4 min
Program Notes: The Heart of the Matter
In this program, composers challenged by love, life, and death test their mettle.
- Nov 6, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Stravinsky & Tchaikovsky
The composers on this program speak quite distinct musical languages, yet the spark for all three pieces is the same: love.
- Oct 28, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Music for Winds
As a collection of instruments, the wind quintet should not get along. Oddly, this mismatched group makes beautiful music.
- Oct 28, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Mendelssohn, Montgomery, and Frank
Jessie Montgomery’s Strum and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Leyendas both dance with abandon.
- Oct 27, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Schubert's Octet
The music on this program understands this all-too-human complexity.
- Oct 27, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Debussy and Ravel
This program features works from this golden age of the harp.
- Oct 23, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Night Music
Day eases into an unsettled night.
Strauss' Sextet from Capriccio; Mazzoli's Vespers for Violin; Schoenberg's Transfigured Night.
- Oct 23, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence
Music can be a time-travel device or a teleportation machine. A chord progression might whisk you back a decade or two...
- Oct 21, 2020
- 2 min
Nathalie Joachim's Dam Mwen Yo
For composer Nathalie Joachim "home" conjures the voices, strength, and fearlessness of women, and the cello sings their song.
- Oct 18, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Metamorphosen
This program connects to our current world: there is a lot of anxiety, sadness, and division, and this music gives comfort to heal our souls
- Oct 11, 2020
- 4 min
Program Notes: Beethoven's Eroica
The ‘Eroica’ is full of hope, and this is the right piece to begin making music together again.
- Jul 3, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | "Amazing Grace"
One of the most recognizable tunes in America, “Amazing Grace” has a complex history.
- Jul 3, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | "St. Louis Blues"
The lament—“My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea”—became the inspiration for the “St. Louis Blues.”
- Jul 2, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | "A Change Is Gonna Come"
A deeply personal song about fear and doubt and faith and hope, this civil rights anthem would have deep and lasting influence.
- Jul 1, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | Lyric for Strings
A barrier-breaking figure in the overwhelmingly white field of classical music, George Walker was an American compositional giant.
- Jun 30, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | "The Easy Winners"
“The Easy Winners” of this rag’s title are the athletes who come out on top with seemingly little effort.
- Jun 29, 2020
- 2 min
SLSO Songs of America | "America the Beautiful"
Malena Smith: I believe that there is a vivid element of hope, both lyrically and melodically, that I connected to.
bottom of page