Listen to Alan Chapman's preview on SoundCloud.
The Saturday night performance will broadcast on Classical KUSC on July 7, 2019.
Guest conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni conducted with pianist Juho Pohjonen.
DAUGHERTY: To the New World (World Premiere)
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 23
STRAUSS: Also Sprach Zarathustra
KUSC host Alan Chapman interviewed composer Michael Daugherty and Jean-Marie Zeitouni in the pre-concert lecture. Here's what we found out about the world premiere work.
The piece is inspired by the Apollo 11 moon landing, which took place 50 years ago. Michael did a bunch of research on Neil Armstrong, and found a lot of musical connections with the astronaut. He played the euphonium, was fond of the theremin, and took a cassette recording of Dvořák's "From the New World" to the moon. So, all of these are sprinkled into the piece. A soprano sings like the theremin, and not the actual instrument is played.
The first movement "Moonrise", which starts with a video of JFK's speech and the launch of Apollo 11, depicts the anxiety of the crew with the eerie soprano. The second movement "One Small Step", which starts with Armstrong's famous quote "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", depicts joy and dancing. The third movement "Splashdown", in 11/8 beat and very fast, depicts the 25,000 miles an hour journey back to Earth.
That was sure a fun concert to attend! :)
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