Modest Petrovitch Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was a remarkable personality in the story of Russian Romantic music: his entire oeuvre was succoured by the history and music of the Russian people. His final opera, Khovanshchina, was no exception in treating a historical subject, and its prelude would later became a beloved stand-alone concert piece under the title Dawn on the Moskva River. With intimate lyricism, the enchanting music accompanies the sunrise from twilight to the sounds of the first birds chirping and the bells proclaiming the start of the new day.
It is a rare occurrence indeed for an instrumentalist to angrily return a piece written for him to its composer after judging it banal and, in places, unplayable. This, however, is exactly what happened with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) deservedly popular and catchily romantic Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. The offended composer crossed out Nikolai Rubinstein's name on the title page and replaced it with that of Ferenc Liszt's son-in-law, Hans von Bülow, who declared the work to be "very difficult, but well worth the effort”.
German composer and music teacher Carl Orff (1895-1982) was one of the most remarkable figures in the history of 20th century music. Carmina Burana was originally the Latin name in general use for a medieval collection of verse. These poems of wandering scholars, itinerant friars, vagrants and vagabonds recorded in Latin, Low German and Old French during the 13th century were discovered in 1803 in Benediktbeuern Abbey in Bavaria. It contains the most characteristic pieces of medieval folk poetry, sometimes tender and lyrical, and sometimes humorous and even crass to the point of smuttiness.

Presented by: Zugló Philharmonic