As the science fiction writer Frank Herbert put it, 'One discovers the future in the past, and both are part of a whole.' César Franck was inspired to write his final symphonic poem by the myth of Psyche and Eros. The texts of the songs of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ('Songs of a Wayfarer'), which in many respects are reminiscent of the songs of Schubert, were developed by Gustav Mahler himself based on the verses in the collection of folk poetry Des Knaben Wunderhorn ('The Boy's Magic Horn'). A dozen years passed between the completion of the first and final version of this song cycle that has exerted so much influence on posterity, and passages of the songs are also reflected in other works that Mahler composed during that time interval.
One of the main objectives the young Johannes Brahms set for himself was to write symphonies of the same profundity as Beethoven's. While it took him until the age of 43 to finish the first of them, numerous works of his came into being as part of the effort to prepare for this great task. Being performed this evening is the Symphony No. 3, in which Brahms combines the heroism mentioned by both Hans Richter and Eduard Hanslick with the Protestant style of musical thinking that can be traced back to Bach. Although it would be difficult to make the case for classifying Brahms as a Hungarian composer, it was true that he did maintain uniquely close connections to the Hungarian music world of the time. The Hungarian dances that he arranged or composed played a major role in the development of the style hongrois of the 19th century.
Conducting the Pannon Philharmonic, an orchestra with more than 200 years of history behind it, this evening will be András Vass, with the baritone solo being performed by one of the great hopes of the future, Ludwig Mittelhammer.

Presented by: Pannon Philharmonic