Literary Inspirations

The Summer Sinfonietta presents its second free concert of the season with an evening of orchestral works inspired by classic literature. The concert opens with Ludwig van Beethoven’s powerful Coriolan Overture. Beethoven composed this overture to open a performance of a play by Heinrich Joseph von Collin (although Shakespeare’s version is more popular today); rife with drama, this overture encapsulates the tragic story of Coriolanus, a Roman general bent on seizing control of the empire. The turbulent overture is followed by the more understated writing of French composer Gabriel Fauré and his suite from the incidental music to Maurice Maeterlinck’s Pelléas et Mélisande. This lush music, with its famous “Sicilienne,” follows the story of the princess Melisande who betrays her jealous husband for his younger brother. The orchestra concludes the first half of the concert with Edvard Grieg’s suite of music to the historical drama Sigurd Jorsalfar. The music chronicles the life of King Sigurd I (often called “Sigurd the Crusader”), who ruled Norway during the Twelfth Century.

The concert concludes with the rarely-performed Fifth Symphony of Antonín Dvořák. Composed in 1875, this tour de force work is the earliest of Dvořák’s so-called “Slavic” symphonies, notable for the composer’s incorporation of musical ideas from his Czech homeland. Much like the Sixth Symphony of Beethoven, Dvořák’s Fifth bears a distinctive pastoral quality, invoking images of the Czech countryside in addition to the traditional dance rhythms. While this symphony is not necessarily inspired by literature, the work marks a turning point in Dvořák’s growth as a composer in its masterful use of musical narrative to weave a dramatic, and ultimately triumphant, story.

The Summer Sinfonietta was formed in 2014 to provide a creative outlet for orchestral musicians in Tallahassee during the summer months. Current and former students from Florida State University play in, conduct, and organize the ensemble, which is dedicated to providing free, casual, energetic concerts to the Tallahassee community. Matthew Bishop, a recent graduate of FSU’s orchestral conducting program, is the orchestra’s music director and conductor.