To New Shores

Emilie Mayer [1812–1883]
Faust-Ouverture op. 46

Einojuhani Rautavaara [1928–2016]
Incantations for Percussion and Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven [1770–1827]
Symphony No. 7 A-Major op. 92

Experience two up-and-coming artists at the beginning of the new concert season with three very different works, each of which promises a “new shore”. On the program is the Faust Overture by Emilie Mayer, worthy, in its drama, of an opera house. The composer was celebrated during her lifetime as the “female Beethoven” and, like many top-class female artists of the 19th century and beyond, she was unjustly forgotten. After the Unknown, the Unexpected: In the buoyant work of the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, Incantations reveals completely new, melodious facets of percussion. Finally, after the “female Beethoven”, the male Beethoven: His 7th Symphony is considered his most stirring work. Condemned as a testimony to his madness, Richard Wagner celebrated it as the “apotheosis of dance”.