Huntsville Symphony Orchestra Offers Space-Themed Music

The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra takes a ride to a galaxy far away in the final concert of the Classical Series, paying tribute to Huntsville as the home of space exploration with The Planets by Gustav Holst, and selections from Star Wars by Academy Award winning filmscore composer John Williams. In addition to the usual Saturday night concert on April 22 at 7:30 p.m., Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Orchestra will offer a Sunday matinee on April 23 at 3 p.m. Both performances are in the VBC Concert Hall. Concert sponsor is the Futaba Corporation. Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The concert opens with Three Nocturnes by the impressionist master Claude Debussy, a colorful and evocative work. The final movement features a haunting and mysterious part for women's chorus wordlessly depicting the sirens that lure sailors to their deaths. Billy Orton is the chorus master. The filmscore from the first of the Star Wars movies is possibly the most-recognized composition of John Williams, the dominant composer in Hollywood for over three decades. Williams has scored over six dozen films, including many blockbusters such as E. T., Schindler's List, Home Alone, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park and Jaws. Unlike most of his film music colleagues, Williams is also active in the realm of concert music. He succeeded Arthur Fiedler as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra with which he made numerous recordings of standard classical works, including Holst’s The Planets. He has also produced notable concert pieces of his own, including a symphony, a tuba concerto, and a bassoon concerto.

The HSO's flight of the imagination continues with The Planets, Gustav Holst's epic orchestral suite that portrays the seven non-earthly planets known to exist in 1914 (Pluto having yet to be discovered). The premiere of the work in 1920 brought largely unwelcome notoriety to the shy and scholarly Holst. The great popularity of The Planets continues to this day, evidenced by the inclusion of excerpts in movies, popular songs and video games. In the HSO concert, each planetary portrait will be accompanied by glorious NASA images.

Sunday's matinee concert specifically targets families, with interactions from the stage and a family-friendly length.

Tickets maybe purchased by phone at 539-4818, in person at the HSO Offices and online at www.hso.org. Tickets may also be purchased at VBC Concert Hall one hour before concert start time. Single ticket prices range from $27 to $58, with student and group rates available. Families can take advantage of the family 3-pack for $30 with other family packages available. There is a $5.00 student rush for available seating beginning ten minutes before the concert.

Pre-Concert Conversations are thirty-minute informal talks beginning at 6:45 before the concert on Saturday evening only. For this performance, there is no “Sneak Preview” Open Dress rehearsal on Saturday.

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