Creative Resistance to Empire

Part of TŌN’s Fisher Center concert series
This program spotlights Eastern European works from the late-19th and early-20th centuries that confront cultural struggles resulting from the oppressiveness of the Russian Empire. More familiar pieces like Rimsky-Korsakov’s charming Overture on Russian Themes and Tchaikovsky’s grand Festival Coronation March, written to celebrate the coronation of Alexander III, are performed alongside lesser-known works. The symphonic poem In the Forest, by Lithuanian composer and painter M.K. Čiurlionis, won a competition in Warsaw and was among the composer’s earliest musical successes. The formidable Military Sinfonietta of Vítězslava Kaprálová was composed upon her graduation from the Prague Conservatory, and brought her international exposure as the work received the prestigious Smetana Foundation award. Borys Liatoshynsky’s Third Symphony was premiered in his native Ukraine in 1951, but was then revised after being banned by Soviet authorities. TŌN performs the original version in this concert.
Hear this program at the Fisher Center just days before TŌN performs it at Carnegie Hall.
These concerts will also be livestreamed on TŌNtube.