National Philharmonic Chorale, Piotr Gajewski, conductor

The stunning one-movement Gesang der Parzen (Song of the Fates), by Brahms, features a six-part chorus and a large orchestra. It’s followed by his gorgeous and moving Nänie, a composition for chorus and orchestra that sets the poem of the same name by Friedrich Schiller to music—a work inspired by the loss Brahms suffered when his close friend, the painter Anselm Feuerbach, died. Tchaikovsky’s final symphony, No. 6 (“Pathétique”), calls to mind what the composer himself wrote: “The ultimate essence of the symphony is LIFE. The first movement is all forceful passion, confidence, thirst for action. The finale is DEATH, the result of destruction. Second movement, love; third, disappointment. The fourth ends dying away.” An apt description if ever there was one!

Brahms - Gesang der Parzen

Brahms - Nänie

Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)

A free pre-concert lecture will be offered in the Concert Hall at 6:45 pm. Instrument petting zoo 7-7:30 pm.