Mid-Texas Symphony presents "Pictures at an Exhibition"

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The Mid-Texas Symphony Presents “Pictures at an Exhibition”

The Mid-Texas Symphony proudly presents the second concert of its 2014-2015 classical music season on October 26, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center on the Canyon High School campus, located on IH35 in New Braunfels!  

David Mairs, Music Director and the talented musicians of the orchestra will present Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar, and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, arranged by Ravel.

Elgar’s best-known large-scale composition, Enigma Variations, is a set of fourteen variations on a hidden theme or “enigma” dedicated to his wife and “friends pictured within” as an affectionate portrayal of each.  After its London premiere in 1899, the piece has remained internationally popular.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is based on drawings and water colors by favorite artist, Hartmann, of scenes in Poland, France and Italy. Maurice Ravel’s arrangement is the most popularly performed rendition of the music which creatively links in a way that illustrates a viewer’s own progress through the artist’s exhibition. Two "Promenade" movements act as gateways to the suite's main sections, musically creating the act of walking. Three shorter interludes present this theme, varying the “mood, color and key” in each suggesting the viewer’s reflection on a work just seen or the anticipation of viewing a new painting. The Promenade develops into a central element of the movement, and Mussorgsky finishes with a flourish of exaltation of the artwork itself. 

In addition to Sunday’s concert, on Monday, October 27, the Mid-Texas Symphony and Director David Mairs will continue their decades-long tradition of fostering children’s education of fine music by performing free concerts for thousands of fifth and sixth graders at the New Braunfels Civic Center.  The Children’s Concerts are funded in part by a generous grant from the McKenna Foundation.  

Join us for another wonderful performance by the Mid-Texas Symphony’s musicians, and help promote fine music in the region!