Sounds and Echoes of Empire

Part of TŌN’s Carnegie Hall series

This program spotlights Eastern European works from the late-19th and early-20th centuries that reflect the nationalism 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. Boris Lyatoshynsky’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.