Washington University Symphony Orchestra to perform music from theatrical works Feb. 25

The Washington University Symphony Orchestra will present a concert of music drawn from theatrical works at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in the university’s Graham Chapel.

Dan Presgrave, instrumental music coordinator in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciecnces, will conduct the concert, which highlights Aaron Copland’s music for the ballet Rodeo. Also on the program are the “Masquerade Suite” of Aram Khachaturian and Frederick Delius’s “The Walk to the Paradise Garden.”

Admission is free and open to the public. Graham Chapel is located just north of the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-4841 or email staylor@wustl.edu.

Rodeo dates back to World War II, when the famed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo fled Europe for New York. For its 1943-44 season, the company enlisted its first American choreographer, Agnes de Mille (1905-93), who in turn commissioned Copland (1900-90), who had previously composed the musical score for the ballet Billy the Kid. Today the music for Rodeo is considered one of Copland’s signature achievements. Indeed, its theme and popularity, along with its blend of folk tunes and the composer’s own musical vocabulary, helped created a new sound, often labeled “American,” within the classical music milieu.

Set on a Southwestern ranch, Rodeo plays out in five distinct musical sections: “Buckaroo Holiday,” “Corral Nocturne,” “Ranch House Party,” “Saturday Night Waltz” and “Hoe-Down.” The instrumentation includes a piano part that, at times, suggests the sound of a barroom upright. Following its successful premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, Copland omitted the third section to form his noted suite for orchestra titled Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo.

Khachaturian (1903-1978) is a Russian composer of Armenian heritage. In 1941 he was asked to compose incidental music for a melodrama, Masquerade, by Mikhail Lermontov, which is set at a masked ball in St. Petersburg in 1830. Particularly compelling among the five pieces Khachaturian gathered into a suite are the vigorous waltz and charming mazurka.

Delius (1862-1934) was born in England but lived in Florida, where he oversaw an orange plantation, before settling in France. “The Walk to the Paradise Garden” is a serene and placid instrumental interlude from his opera A Village Romeo and Juliet.

The Washington University Symphony Orchestra comprises more than 70 members, including about 50 string players. Members include both undergraduates and graduate students from across the university, ranging from architecture and business to various disciplines within Arts & Sciences.