VISUAL PROGRAM NOTES

Symphony Concert - May 1, 2022
American Journeys

George Gershwin - Cuban Overture
       
This piece was written by American composer, George Gershwin, in 1932 after a holiday in Havana. The overture includes Caribbean rhythms and some of the native percussion of Cuba: Bongos, Claves, Güiro, and Maracas.

George Gershwin, 1935

Bongos

Claves

Güiro

Maracas

Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major
       
This concerto was composed around 1761- 1765 for the principal cellist of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy's Orchestra. The work was presumed lost until 1961, when musicologist Oldřich Pulkert discovered a copy of the score at the Prague National Museum.

Joseph Haydn, circa 1770

Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, Haydn's most important patron

Ferde Grofé - Grand Canyon Suite
       
Ferde Grofé, an American composer, is best known for his 1931 five-movement tone poem, "Grand Canyon Suite". The work was initially titled "Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon".

Ferde Grofé

WPA vintage travel poster,

circa 1938