MOZART MEETS LATIN MASTERS its premiere in June 1778 that it continued to be performed regularly in Paris for several years. Perhaps the most French element of the piece is Mozart’ s use of the socalled“ noisy” Parisian orchestration, which includes flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and timpani. In fact, this was Mozart’ s first symphony to utilize the clarinet, which was a relatively new instrument at the time. Other Parisian trends include the opening premier coup d’ archet( all the instruments play together loudly at the beginning), exposed colorful passages for the winds, dramatic surprises, brilliant passagework, and powerful unisons.
The Paris Symphony opens with the expected grand proclamation from the full orchestra, and the first movement contains several well-placed theatrical moments that elicited enthusiastic applause from the audience at the premiere. The delicate and nuanced version of the second movement that is most frequently performed today is not the same music audiences originally heard. After receiving criticism that the slow movement contained too many musical ideas, Mozart wrote a new slow movement. Parisian audiences also expected the final movement to start with another coup d’ archet, but Mozart instead daringly opted to have the movement start softly. When the music finally got loud, the premiere audience cheered with glee!
Astor Piazzolla
Born March 11, 1921 in Mar del Plata, Argentina Died July 4, 1992 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
SINFONÍA BUENOS AIRES [ 1951 ]
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, tamboriles, bass drum, sandpaper blocks, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, xylophone, tam tam, glockenspiel, harp, celesta, piano, and strings.
Astor Piazzolla’ s multifaceted musical career as a virtuoso bandoneon( button accordion) player and composer of tangos and classical music took him to prestigious concert halls during the day and to the famous tango clubs
of Buenos Aires at night. By his late teens, Piazzolla was performing and arranging for some of the most elite tango orchestras of his time, ultimately earning enough money to study classical composition with Alberto Ginastera. Influenced by both jazz and classical music as a child, Piazzolla spent the next few decades creating a unique compositional style that fused Western classical idioms with tango, Latin American folk music, and jazz. His hard work of observing the Teatro Colón orchestra early every morning, studying in the afternoon, and performing each night paid off. In 1953, he entered the score for his Sinfonia Buenos Aires in the Fabien Sevitzky Competition and won a scholarship to study with the renowned Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Although the Sinfonia Buenos Aires was successful in the competition, it was so controversial at its premiere by the Buenos Aires Philharmonic that the audience devolved into a heated fight! The opposing sides of the dispute seem to capture the two distinctive musical worlds that Piazzolla found himself residing in throughout his career. On one
PEABODY
2026 – 27 CONCERT SEASON
Peabody’ s FREE in-person and online performance season this fall spans from classical to contemporary, from jazz to dance.
Find your favorites at peabody. jhu. edu / events.
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