Humboldt Symphony Features Grieg’s “Symphonic Dances”

The Humboldt Symphony pays tribute to the centennial year of composer Edvard Grieg with one of his signature compositions, the “Symphonic Dances,” in its fall concert on Friday, October 12, and Sunday, October 14 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata.

Conducted by HSU assistant professor Paul Cummings, the Symphony will also perform short pieces by Bach, Edward Elgar and Camille Saint-Saens.

The centennial of Grieg’s death in 1907 is being noted by orchestras around the world. The Norwegian composer wrote the “Symphonic Dance” around 1896, based on folk songs and dances of his native country. Several of Grieg’s works synthesized folklore and European concert music. With four “dances” like the four movements of a symphony, together with the unity of the composition, the “Symphonic Dances” is aptly named.

The preceding pieces on the program are “Marche Militaire Francaise,” by Grieg’s contemporary in France, Camille Saint-Saens; “Nimrod,” a section of the “Enigma Variations” by British composer Edward Elgar (also written in Grieg’s lifetime), and the chorale prelude of “Wachet Auf” (“Sleepers, Wake”) by J. S. Bach, as arranged for orchestra by Eugene Ormandy.

The Humboldt Symphony, conducted by Paul Cummings, performs in Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday, October 12 and Sunday, October 14 at 8PM.Tickets are $7 general, $3 students and seniors, from HSU Ticket Office 826-3928) or at the door. HSU students free with ID.

Media: Arcata Eye, Eureka Times-Standard Northern Lights.