Copland, Gershwin and Price
Across the Atlantic and Back in Time
May 20th 7.30 p.m.
Chapel of St Augustine, Tonbridge School
Programme:
Copland – Outdoor Overture
Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue : Soloist Jong-Gyung Park
Price – Symphony no 1 in E Minor
May’s concert takes TPS back across the Atlantic once more, and back to the first half of the 20th century. It opens with Aaron Copland’s Outdoor Overture, whose only connection with the great wilderness is that it was described as having an ‘open air’ feel, but which has all the excitement that we can expect from this composer.
Then we know you will love our own Jong-Gyung Park’s performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Jong-Gyung was kind enough to record it for us during the lockdown period, but in May we will have the much greater pleasure of hearing it played live – and you can imagine how wonderful that will be!
The prize-winning Symphony No 1 written by Florence Price was the first to be played by a professional orchestra by a black female composer. It came as a surprise to everyone at the time – and may be a surprise for you too. Like Aaron Copland, Price was steeped in the music of the people around her, and you will hear the influence of African-American music mixed with that of European composers like Dvořák.
An evening like this, conjuring up all sorts of images of the land across the ‘Pond’, is one that you really shouldn’t miss.
