17 SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5

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 She left behind a substantial catalogue of published and unpublished music, including several operas, twelve symphonies, chamber music, songs and arrangements.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.

PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 16 (1868)

Scored for: pairs of woodwinds plus piccolo, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, strings, and solo piano Performance time: 30 minutes First Grant Park Orchestra performance: July 27, 1937, Richard Czerwonky, conductor with Alec Templeton as soloist

Edvard Grieg was a Norwegian composer, pianist, and conductor. In the late 19th century, he was a central figure in the promotion of Norwegian music with many of his compositions, including the Piano Concerto, reflecting the influence of Norwegian folk music.

Like many composers, Grieg began his musical study at an early age under the instruction of his mother. When he was a teenager, he left his hometown in Norway to study at the prestigious Leipzig Conservatory—a relatively new institution founded by renowned composer Felix Mendelssohn. Although Grieg did not particularly enjoy his time at the institution, it was during his school years in Germany that a young Grieg attended a performance that would leave an indelible impression and serve as major inspiration for his Piano Concerto. At this performance, Clara Schumann performed the Piano Concerto in A minor, a masterwork written by her late husband, Robert Schumann. A decade later, Grieg would embark upon his own Piano Concerto in A Minor, a threemovement work that pays homage to Schumann’s influence while displaying Grieg’s unique artistic voice as a Norwegian composer. Both of these influences are present in the opening moments of the piece—the bold and energetic entrance of the piano nods to the beginning of Schumann’s concerto while the three-note pattern played a prominent role in folk music of the time.

Like the finale of the Overture to William Tell, Grieg’s music has also become a staple of pop culture. Excerpts from his Peer Gynt suite (1875) are widely recognized—his “Morning Mood” movement is well known for its placement in the Bugs Bunny cartoon (think sunrise), while the popular “In the Hall of the Mountain King” has found its way into commercials, TV shows, and film. This movement will likely remind listeners of countless film and TV moments, building suspense, a chase, a battle, and more.