Thursday, November 2nd, 2017 - 7:30p
Center for the Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA (Map)
Quick Facts
Doors Open - 7:10p
Ticket Prices - $10/$15/$35
Available Online and At the Door
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About This Concert
- Our first full orchestra show of the season, Broken Banners is an examination of composers past and present, asking difficult questions and challenging authority.
- Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, "Eroica," is a legendary landmark in the orchestral repertoire. With every measure of music he revolutionized the Symphonic form, obliterating the rules and making new ones that would stand for a century.
- Jessie Montgomery's Banner was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner. Montgomery weaves strands of Civil Rights songs in with strands of the National Anthem to express the struggles America has and is experiencing to become the 'land of the free.'
PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"
1804 | 44 Minutes
- Beethoven's grand 3rd Symphony defined an era of classical music.
- Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, Beethoven famously scratched the dedication off the original score upon hearing that Napoleon had named himself emperor of France, forsaking the democratic ideals that had endeared Beethoven to him.
TAKE A LISTEN: Spotify Playlist | YouTube
LEARN MORE: Wikipedia
Jessie Montgomery - Banner
2014 | 9 Minutes
- Jessie Montgomery is a New York based violinist, composer, and music educator. She wrote Banner for string quartet with an accompaniment of string orchestra.
- Though Banner was commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner, Jessie notes, "I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a die-hard patriot. We should celebrate, but also take note of struggles that have occurred in order for us all to be in this land of the free."
TAKE A LISTEN: Spotify Playlist | YouTube
LEARN MORE: NewMusicBox
Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question
1908 | 6 Minutes
- The Unanswered Question is written for three separate groupings of instruments: Strings, a quartet of woodwinds, and a solo trumpet.
- The strings represent the, "Silence of the Druids," solo trumpet calls out seven times asking, "the perennial question of existence," and the woodwind quartet tries to answer the question.
- Written in 1908 but not performed until 1946, it is one of the most significant pieces of American classical music ever written.
TAKE A LISTEN: Spotify Playlist | YouTube
LEARN MORE: Wikipedia