Jonathan Small Conductor
We begin our season with three musical “greats” of the early and mid-Romantic era. In the 1850s a young Johannes Brahms was befriended by Robert and Clara Schumann, who encouraged him in his early compositional career, and for the next few years the threesome worked closely together. Schumann’s final published Symphony provides a number of innovations that would influence composers in years to come. Brahms’ Tragic Overture is a relatively late work, as is his Double Concerto, written for Violin and Cello, and we welcome local soloists Emily Mowbray and Lizzie Elliott for this performance. The concert opens with Rossini’s William Tell Overture in its full form, not just the bit everybody knows – did someone mention the Lone Ranger?!
