The legendary Nina Simone, also a classically trained pianist and contemporary of Perry, once said, “An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” And upon her return to the U.S. in the early 60s, Julia Perry’s compositions began to reflect those times. Her tenth symphony was titled the Soul Symphony, and is said to be a direct response to the unrest related to the civil rights movement. In 1970, Julia Perry suffered a series of strokes that left her paralyzed on her right side. After learning to write with her left hand, she continued to compose until her death in 1979. She left behind a substantial catalogue of published and unpublished music, including several operas, twelve symphonies, chamber music, songs and arrangements. In addition to the Short Piece for Orchestra, her best-known works are Stabat Mater (1951) for solo voice and string orchestra and Homunculus, C.F. (1969) for soprano and percussionists. Her awards include a Fountainebleau Award and a Boulanger Grand Prix for her Violin Sonata.
GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875) SUITE NO. 1 FROM L’ARLÉSIENNE (1872) Scored for: pairs of woodwinds plus English horn, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings Performance time: 17 minutes First Grant Park Orchestra performance: August 16, 1935, Frank Laird Waller, conductor Georges Bizet was a late 19th-century French composer, arranger, and pianist. As the child of two musicians, Bizet showed talent at an early age, and was enrolled at the Paris Conservatory at the age of nine. During his nine years at the conservatory, Bizet won multiple awards for his compositions, but his career was short-lived with few major successes during his lifetime. L’Arlésienne (The Woman from Arles) was composed in 1872 as incidental music for Alphonse Daudet’s play of the same name. Though the play was not well received by Parisian audiences, Bizet ensured his score would live past the production. One month after the premiere, he selected and arranged several pieces from the original work to create the L’Arlésienne suite, which found lasting success in concert halls. A second suite was not compiled by Bizet himself. Four years after his untimely death, friend and composer Ernest Guiraud selected the music for the creation of the second suite. Bizet is perhaps the most widely recognized for music from his final opera, Carmen. Music from this opera, including the ever popular “Habanera”, has long provided a soundtrack in movies and tv shows, from Sesame Street to a Superbowl ad to Pixar’s Up.
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