Batten down the hatches for this musical exploration of tempest-tossed seas. Dame Ethel Smyth’s Three Preludes from her opera The Wreckers tells the tale of a Cornish village accustomed to looting the remains of shipwrecks upon its shores. Peter Grimes also tells the tale of a coastal village and its inhabitants’ relationship with the sea.
Britten’s Four Sea Interludes portrays the sea at dawn, when a storm breaks, on a peaceful Sunday morning, and in the moonlight. We will also reprise our 2003 premiere of MPO’s principal oboeist Diane Benjamin’s gently turbulent work Ocean Motion. As the tempest subsides, a final chord sounds, symbolizing the power and expanse of the sea.
We’ll also take a break from the storms with another work by Britten, Movements for a Clarinet Concerto, featuring the MPO’s very own Ryan Golden.
These works provide a nautical foundation for the hands-on kids’ activities available for families before our free Sunday concert on December 4.
Conducted by Derick Rehurek
Works Performed
- Dame Ethel Smyth, Three Preludes from The Wreckers
- Benjamin Britten, Movements for a Clarinet Concerto with soloist Ryan Golden
- Diane Benjamin, Ocean Motion
- Benjamin Britten, Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Dates Performed
- November 7, 2015