Simply Strings

Tonight opens with Béla Bartók's Divertimento for String Orchestra, with Hungarian-born principal violist Csaba Erdélyi on the podium. Next on the program is Gordon Jacob’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Trumpet, featuring audience favorites J. David Harris and Ronald Romm on clarinet and trumpet, respectively. Breaking from the avant-garde experiments of many of his contemporaries, Jacob clung to the importance of melody, stating that “the day that melody is discarded altogether, you may as well pack up music . . .” Join us in listening to Jacob’s excellent melodic writing. Following intermission is Samuel Barber’s best-known and best-loved work, the Adagio for Strings. This piece was originally the second movement of Barber’s String Quartet, Op. 11, which he arranged for string orchestra (much to the delight of his audiences). Concluding the program is Antonín Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E Major. Written during an especially happy period of his life, Dvořák’s joy in his marriage, his fatherhood, and his work can be heard in this piece, especially in the humorous and high-spirited third movement, Scherzo: Vivace.

Barber: Adagio for Strings
Jacob: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Trumpet
Bartók: Divertimento for String Orchestra
Dvořák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22