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 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.
2
Beethoven: Egmont Overture
J. S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins
Barber: Adagio for Strings
Proceeds will go to the Red Cross to help
the relief effort for victims of the tsunami in southern
Asia and eastern Africa.
In remembrance of the victims of the Indian
Ocean tsunami, Conductor Sung Jin Hong and One World Symphony
will be presenting a pair of benefit concerts. Proceeds from
the concerts will be donated to the Red Cross to help the
relief effort for survivors of the disaster. The program
will be a meditation on loss, tragedy, recovery, and hope,
and it will include works by Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Bach,
and Barber.
Rachmaninoff's much-admired Piano
Concerto No. 2 was written during a difficult period
of the composer's life; "I'm simply in despair!" Rachmaninoff
said during the compositional process. The product of
this depair, however, has endured and shows a masterly
transition from anguish to hope. Another work that depicts
the triumph over loss and pain is Beethoven's Egmont
Overture. Written in 1809 to accompany a revival
of Goethe's tragedy Egmont at the Vienna Burgtheater,
the piece depicts the tragic martyrdom of the young hero
and the ultimate victory of his army and of his ideals
of morality and justice. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins is
so all-encompassing in its emotional scope that it allows
the listener access to feelings throughout the emotional
spectrum, from fear and mourning to hope and relief.
Finally, Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936), played
after the deaths of Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy,
is an incomparable anthem of remembrance and mourning.
The lush strings soar in a long arch that almost seems
to reach its emotional climax in silence at the end of
the piece. As the world remembers the victims of the
tsunami disaster, people from all countries recognize
that we all share one world and are all one people. Music
can express emotions that cannot be expressed in words:
join One World Symphony to remember the victims and aid
the survivors of this tragedy.
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