Repertoire
Aleksandr Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880) 6’
Guillermo Zalcman: Tres imágenes danzantes sobre ritmos argentinos (Three Dancing Images on Argentinian Rhythms) (2019) 10’
Zoltán Kodály: Dances of Galánta (1933) 16’
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36. (1888) 15’
Artists
Barcelona Symphonic Band
Salvador Brotons, conductor
Program
Zoltán Kodály composed the symphonic poem Dances of Gálanta to mark the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. It is inspired by verbunkos, typical gypsy dances heard by the composer in Gálanta, a city now in Slovakia where he spent many of his summers as a child. Dance rhythms are also the basis of Tres imágenes danzantes (Three Dancing Images) by the Argentinean composer Guillermo Zalcman, built on tangoes, Andean influences, and the rhythm of Créole peasants.
DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM HERE The concert opens with Alexander Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia. The work is constructed around two simple melodies, combined in the final climax with masterly skill and elegance. It is no surprise that this is one of the composer’s most popular works. Rimski-Korsakov dedicated his Russian Easter Festival Overture to Borodin and Mussorgsky. The overture is brilliant and based melodically on different chants from the Orthodox Church which the Romanov family included in the Imperial court’s official liturgy.