Music and Nature

Smith                        Star Spangled Banner

Beethoven               Symphony No. 6, Movement 4

Haydn                       Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major, 1^st movement

Seth Weeks, piano

Korsakov                  Flight of the Bumblebee

De Falla                    The Ritual Fire Dance

Hummel                   Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major

Ethan Williamson, trumpet

Rossini                      William Tell Overture

The sounds of the natural world have been an integral part of our culture. All the world is sound or vibration. From bees humming to the sound of a rainstorm, the same vibrations that make music surround us in nature. Great composers often used nature as the backdrop for their works, such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons or Johannes Brahms c minor Symphony.

In our education program, we will look at how various composers use the sounds of the orchestra to manifest the images of nature. The William Tell Overture takes us on through a storm, to pastures of fields ending with the ever-familiar Lone Ranger gallop of horses at the end. Beethoven Pastoral Symphony looks at the thunderstorm elements in detail, and the Ritual Fire Dance was used to worship the Fire God where Gypsies would form a large circle around their campfire at midnight to dance. Flight of the Bumble Bee is, of course, just the Flight of the Bumble Bee!

Our concerto winners from 2020 and 2021 will be joining the orchestra.

This year, the concert will be videoed and released to area schools and educators. You may also come here to watch the video.

See below for the teacher’s guide.

2021 Musician Videos- click below

Musician Profiles 2021 – YouTube

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