Music of the Spheres Society: "Mysterious Signs/Poetic Inspirations" October 25, 2007

The Music of the Spheres Society opens its seventh season of innovative programming with an outstanding concert of chamber works by Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc and Dmitri Shostakovich.

"Mysterious Signs/Poetic Inspirations " features music inspired by poetic symbolism. The funeral procession of Wagner, which took place in the canals of Venice, led his father-in-law Franz Liszt to compose the second version of his famed work, "la lugubre gondola." It is partnered with the "Second Elegie" - dedicated to Liszt's pupil and biographer Lina Ramann - and the enthralling "Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth," which is a tribute to the beautiful Isle of Nonnenwerth and Liszt's companion, Marie d'Agoult.
The tragic death of the great Spanish poet Federico Lorca was the genesis of Poulenc's "Sonata" for violin and piano (1944). This work pays express homage to Lorca in its middle movement - depicting a weeping guitar - and features not only the music of tragedy but also Poulenc's manic, mocking energy.
The "Seven Romances" of Shostakovich are a late work from 1966 for soprano, violin, cello and piano. Set to texts by Alexander Blok, the songs are entitled "Ophelia's Song," "Gamayun, the bird of prophecy," "We were together," "The City Sleeps," "The Storm," "Mysterious Signs," and "Music."

Featured artists for this concert: Hope Hudson, soprano; Stephanie Chase, violin; James Wilson, cello; and Warren Jones, piano.

Pre-Concert Talk at 7:30 p.m., included in admission: "How Vertebrate Motions Shape Musical Structures"

Andrew Warshaw proposes a neurodevelopmental terminology for the physical actions of musicians that is comparable to to those that are "hard-wired" into other vertebrates, such as the intospinal undulation in snakes, two-legged homologous jumping in frogs, and contralateral movement in other mammals. These Locomotion-Encoded Musical Patterns (LEMPS) are intended as technical descriptors of movement content in musical passages.

Tickets: $30 requested contribution at door; $15, students/seniors. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Seating is by general admission. The pre-concert talk is included in concert admission.

Transportation: Christ & St. Stephen's Church is located near Lincoln Center and is convenient to the 1, 2, 3, and 9 subway trains and the M5, M7, M11, and M104 buses.

Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. No children under ten, please. For more information, visit the Society's website.

Official Website: http://www.musicofthespheres.org