On March 29 at the Music Center at Strathmore, and March 30 through April 1 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, renowned astrophysicist, author and art connoisseur Dr. Mario Livio joins the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to consider the concept of symmetry and its musical manifestations in an extraordinary Explorer series program.
What makes something beautiful? From the tiny swirl of a snail's shell to iconic Greek architecture to the melodies of Mozart, symmetry pervades that which is considered sublime.
Guest conductor James Judd leads the BSO in concerts featuring Mozart's Symphony No. 40, Schoenberg's tone poem Verklärte Nacht ("Transfigured Night"Â) and Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, all masterpieces that lend themselves to Dr. Livio's fascinating and accessible analysis.
Drawing on his scientific expertise, Dr. Livio will provide numerous musical and visual examples of the ways in which symmetry-the appearance of balance or unity in form and proportion-affects perceptions of beauty. A senior scientist at Baltimore's Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and a best-selling author, Dr. Livio possesses a passion for art and music, and has applied his deep knowledge of the natural world to understanding these disciplines. As part of the program, Dr. Livio will also discuss the aesthetic implications of the so-called "Golden Ratio,"Â the mysterious proportion that has fascinated mathematicians, philosophers and artists, and appeared in art and architecture throughout the world for centuries.
Renowned 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg took inspiration for his programmatic work, Verklärte Nacht, from Richard Demel's poem "Two People," in which a couple travels in the night through "bare, cold woods." Desperate for a child, the woman, bereft, tells the man that she has given herself to a stranger. The man surprises the woman, replying: "The child that you conceived/be no burden to your soul"¦you will bear it to me, from me/ You have brought glory into me"¦" The couple then continues rapturously through the bright night. Originally premiered in 1902 as a work for string sextet and later scored for string orchestra, Verklärte Nacht is among Schoenberg's earliest works and is remarkable not only for the poignant story it tells, but for its sheer aural beauty and orchestral richness.
Among Mozart's best-known works, his penultimate symphony, Symphony No. 40, emerged during a highly creative yet difficult time for the composer, as he struggled with professional challenges.
Expressing influences of the "Sturm und Drang"Â (Storm and Stress) art movement of late 18th-century Germany, the work's minor key, aggressive rhythms and flaunting of form distinguish Mozart's "Great"Â G minor Symphony, and offer a rare glimpse into his frustrated emotional state. Though most composers employ symmetry and repetition, Mozart's works in particular have been associated with symmetrical musical structures that have awed listeners for more than 200 years.
Opening the program is Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3. Most likely composed during Bach's time in Leipzig in the late 1720's, the suite is a blend of two dominant French compositional styles: the overture and court dances. Notable for its easily recognizable Air (known in its adapted, solo version as "Air on G String"Â), the suite is a lively, rhythmically complex work with a celebratory mood. -- www.baltimoresymphony.org
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