The Orchestra

Friday night a friend and I went to the Minnesota Orchestra for an evening of Brahms Symphony and Song. We were inspired by some half-price tickets so it really didn't matter what was on the program. On the way I told my friend that the culture I had experienced growing up was mainly the high school band and choir concert. Every now and then we did sing a piece in Latin but I can assure you that we never sang or played any Brahms. My friend is from a small town in North Dakota so she didn't benefit from much culture either. We did know enough not to clap between movements.

The concert began with five Hungarian dances which are fun pieces to listen to and it looked like they were fun to play as well. This was followed by two pieces for chorus and Orchestra. Brahms was German and spent most of his life in Vienna so I was glad to find the program notes that had the German words and the English translation. It helped even more to read that the first piece, Nänie, was a lament written following the death of one of Brahms' friends.

The concert finished with the Serenade No. 2 in A major, Opus 16. The unique thing about this piece is that the trumpets, timpani and all violins were not included. This allowed us to actually see the violas, cellos and woodwinds that were hidden by all the violins.

Here are links to two of the pieces from the concert.

Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9LvC9WkkQ

Nänie, for Chorus and Orchestra, Opus 82 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb4qj_z4294