3. Philharmonisches Konzert: Hafenstadt Havanna

In the organizer's words:

Havana

Marta Kowalczuk (*1998)
"hay ojos bajo la marea" (world premiere)

Amy Beach (1867 - 1944)
Piano Concerto in C sharp minor op. 45
(arranged by Laurine Celeste Fox)

Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)
"Danzón cubano"

George Gershwin (1898 - 1937)
"Rhapsody in Blue"

Silvestre Revueltas (1899 - 1940)
Sensemayá

Piano Ying Li
Conductor Holly Hyun Choe

One of the most important ports in the Caribbean is in Cuba - both for trade and tourism. This is where the young
composer Marta Kowalczuk transports us there with her "hay ojos bajo la marea".

The composer Amy Beach lived and worked in the USA. Although she did not have it easy as a composer during this time - she had to publish compositions under a pseudonym, for example - she left behind more than 300 works and was the first American woman to write a symphony. With her Piano Concerto in C sharp minor in 1899, she composed a work full of ideas that illustrates her cosmopolitan attitude. She herself played the solo part in the premiere and later also in Chicago, Philadelphia, Leipzig and Berlin.

Born in New York, Aaron Copland was interested in Latin America for a long time: in his "Danzón cubano" he composes an ingenious interweaving of various rhythmic dance patterns of Cuban origin.

The "Rhapsody in Blue" was premiered in a scandalous concert on February 12, 1924 and changed American music history forever. The work for piano and jazz band by George Gershwin was intended to liberate jazz and make African-American musical traditions acceptable. American women's clubs warned against the "syncopated sin" - the piece functioned as a musical melting pot of cultures. Musicologists believe they can find Wagner's Tristan chord in it, while jazz and blues tones in particular distinguish the piece from late Romanticism.

"Sensemayá" by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas is based on an Afro-Cuban poem about the rite of snake slaying. With syncopated rhythms and archaic force, Revueltas creates a South American counterpart to Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps".

Price information:

Discounts are possible for each seating group.