Opening night is just around the corner, and your Cape Symphony musicians and guest conductor Farkhad Khudyev are gearing up for Fanfare: A Celebration of Unity. The program is musically and thematically grand.
Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and “Lincoln Portrait,” Jean Sibelius’s “Finlandia,” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” were each chosen to convey twin themes of unity and freedom. Together, they evoke nationalistic spirit and an overriding sense of humanity.
Balancing the values of individual freedom against the strength of national unity is a recurring theme in human history. How do these ideals reconcile? What does music tell us about that struggle?
“Embracing freedom makes us all united,” says Khudyev. “In the midst of tumultuous times, this music was a fresh breath of freedom… Beethoven, Sibelius, and Copland, all with such different views, and with such a diversity of sounds, all gravitated to freedom.”
Each masterpiece in this program expresses values of unity and freedom in its own context. Copland’s iconic American works were composed around the time the United States entered World War II, viewed by many Americans as a fight for freedom around the globe – a fight to unite behind. Sibelius wrote “Finlandia” in 1899 as part of covert protests against Russian censorship, uniting people in support of freedom of the Finnish press.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” is the cornerstone of “Fanfare.” It was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Beethoven believed to be a champion of the French Revolution’s democratic ideals. When Bonaparte betrayed these values by declaring himself Emperor, the idealistic Beethoven was deeply disappointed, and furiously scratched Bonaparte’s name off the score’s title page.
Across time and across oceans, great composers have considered these themes and brought them to life through profoundly inspiring music.
However deeply you delve into the themes of Fanfare: A Celebration of Unity, you will undoubtedly be inspired by its magnificence. The stage is set! Join us for a celebration.
Fanfare: A Celebration of Unity will be performed Saturday, September 23 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 30 at 3:00 PM. You may purchase tickets here.
