Friday, April 27 8 pm concert at Schuster Center details connections between Gustav Holst’s love of folk music and his awe of the heavens
On Friday evening, April 27 at 8 pm in the Schuster Center, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Neal Gittleman will provide an insightful glimpse into the mind of English composer Gustav Holst. The finale of the 2006-2007 Dayton Daily News Classical Connections concert series, entitled Profile: Holst, deals with the music of an earthbound composer whose imagination was limitless.
As musical director at the St. Paul’s Girls’ School in England, Gustav Holst worked English and Scottish folk music into his St. Paul’s Suite for String Orchestra. Then, while still at the school, he wrote the massive symphonic work, The Planets, which contains seven tone poems about the astrological planets – about different aspects of human character associated with the planets of the zodiac. So, instead of using visuals of heavenly bodies, Music Director Neal Gittleman will use beautiful, full-color star charts to explain the piece. Comparable in size to works by Strauss, Mahler, and Schoenberg, The Planets has gained fame as Holst’s biggest and most important work. Music Director Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will perform both and makes clear the connections between these two completely different compositions.
Immediately following the concert, there will be a question and answer discussion with the conductor.
Tickets $11 to $38.