MARSALIS & SIBELIUS WITH HEYWARD
Academy , he was appointed assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra , where he was mentored by Sir Mark Elder , and became Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra . In 2023 , he became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music .
Jonathon is committed to education and community outreach work , as well as to including new music within his imaginative concert programs .
Aubrey Foard
Aubrey Foard is the Principal Tuba of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra , a position he has held since 2018 . He also serves as Lecturer of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) and as Artist Faculty at the Brevard Music Center . Mr . Foard was most recently Principal Tuba of the Charlotte Symphony , serving in that
Aubrey Foard
position from 2012 until 2018 . He has previously held Principal Tuba positions in the Santa Barbara , West Virginia , Canton , Youngstown , and Albany Symphonies , as well as with the Britt Festival Orchestra . He has performed as a guest musician with several other orchestras , including the Los Angeles Philharmonic , The Cleveland Orchestra , the Utah Symphony , the Houston Symphony , the National Symphony , the North Carolina Symphony , the Minnesota Orchestra , the Louisville Orchestra , Arizona MusicFest , and as Acting Principal Tuba with the San Diego Symphony .
Mr . Foard ’ s solo performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio ’ s “ Performance Today ,” and on WQXR New York , KUHF Houston , and KDB Santa Barbara . , As a soloist , he has performed with the West Virginia Symphony , the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra , the Music Academy of the West Orchestra , the U . S . Army Orchestra , and on multiple occasions with the Charlotte Symphony .
Aubrey Foard is a Buffet Crampon performing artist , representing the Melton Meinl Weston line of instruments .
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM by James M . Keller
Carl Nielsen
Born on June 9 , 1865 , in Sortelung , near Nørre Lyndelse , Funen , Denmark Died October 3 , 1931 , in Copenhagen , Denmark
HELIOS OVERTURE [ 1903 ]
At the beginning of the 20 th century , Carl Nielsen was gaining widespread attention in his native Denmark thanks especially to his opera Saul and David and his Symphony No . 2 ( The Four Temperaments ), premiered just four days apart in late 1902 . With the Helios Overture , which followed shortly thereafter , he grappled with a challenge that concerned him over many years — the question of program music . He was uneasy with the idea that instrumental music might be crafted to “ narrate ” a literary story , as was the case with symphonic poems . He was more of a purist , believing that music must narrate its own story , that the structure of a composition should arise from its internal logic rather than from some external plot or imagery . On the other hand , he was willing to recognize that some degree of inspiration might derive from peripheral stimuli .
In the winter of 1903 , he traveled to Athens , where his wife , the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen , was residing through a study grant . For a Danish composer , a southern sojourn proved inspiring indeed . “ Now it is scorchingly hot ,” he wrote to a friend at the end of March . “ Helios burns all day and I am writing away at my new solar system : a long introduction with sunrise and morning song is finished , and I have begun on the allegro .”
When the work was published , he attached descriptive verbiage : “ Stillness and darkness — Then the sun rises to joyous songs of praise — Wanders its golden way — quietly sinks in the sea .” Clearly , a depictive element was central to the piece . Two days after he finished composing it , he described his project in a letter to fellow Danish composer Thomas Laub , mentioning that he had penned “ a notdetailed program .” “ It is only called Helios
and no explanation is necessary . What do you say ? Such a program title is not a nuisance . Light , Darkness , Sun , and Rain are almost the same as Credo , Crucifixus , Gloria , and so forth .”
Nielsen finds his comfort level at a point where he draws general impetus from a non-musical idea while stopping short of attaching a detailed narrative . This mirrors the balance of inspiration also found in The Four Temperaments , in which the movements reflect four different aspects of human personality , and which he would visit again in his Symphony No . 4 ( The Inextinguishable ), which reflects in a general way the indomitable spirit of life .
Instrumentation : Three flutes ( third doubling piccolo ), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , and strings .
20 | OVERTURE | BSOmusic . org