Jun Märkl Conductor
Samuel Jacobs Horn

Kenneth Young Te Māpouriki
W.A. Mozart Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297 Paris
Richard Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 11
Mendelssohn Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 27
R. Schumann Symphony No. 1 in Bb major, Op. 38 Spring

 

German-Japanese conductor Jun Märkl conducts a spring concert that includes an exciting new New Zealand work and some popular classics.

Te Māpouriki by New Zealand composer Kenneth Young was commissioned for the NZSO’s Cook’s Landfall Series to mark 250 years since the first encounters between Māori and European settlers. It reflects how Cook was changed by his experiences.

Mozart’s vigorous Paris Symphony was written while the composer was in Paris looking for work. The first movement begins with a rising, accelerating scale – an effect known as the Mannheim rocket.

Richard Strauss was a prolific composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, composing many chamber, orchestral, solo works as well as many Operas. His first horn concerto, written when he was just 18, is still a popular work today and will be performed by NZSO principal horn Samuel Jacobs.

Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage is based on two poems by Goethe. The fanfare at the end of the work suggests that despite the absence of wind at the beginning, the sailing ship reached its destination.

Robert Schumann wrote his First Symphony, Spring, in just four days. According to his wife, the title is inspired by poet Adolf Böttger’s Frühlingsgedicht (Spring poem). The last lines read, “O turn, O turn and change your course— In the valley spring blooms forth!”