Music certainly can add weight to social causes.
The DuPage Symphony Orchestra will present a trio of powerful pieces during its “Striving for Justice” Concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville.
More Top Picks Toshiba Em925a5a
“Maestra Barbara Schubert chose the three pieces on this concert because they share a common theme — striving for justice,” said Teresa Muir, the orchestra’s board secretary. “The three pieces have such different styles and moods, so the overall experience will bring familiar and new sounds for the audience to enjoy.”
The first half of the concert features German composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Leonore Overture No. 2,” one of four overtures written for his only opera, “Fidelio,” in which a wife disguises herself as a male guard to rescue her condemned husband from a political prison.
“This overture is described as dramatic and dark, depicting the dungeon where her husband, Florestan, was held,” Muir said. “Written in 1804-1805, Beethoven created this wonderful piece despite advancing hearing loss.”
Also on the program is the concert suite from “On the Waterfront,” which was recrafted from American composer Leonard Bernstein’s score for the 1954 Elia Kazan film about union corruption.
“Leonard Bernstein was hesitant to take on the project to write the score for ‘On the Waterfront,’ and originally declined the offer,” Muir explained. “He changed his mind after seeing rough cuts from the film and was very impressed with Marlon Brando’s acting and the film’s depiction of union corruption in New York’s dockyards.”
Bernstein’s work received an Academy Award nomination for best movie score.
“Wanting the ability to perform the music in concert settings, Bernstein created the symphonic suite from the full movie score in 1955,” Muir said.
The suite can be challenging for musicians.
“Bernstein’s music is very rhythmically complicated, and individual parts are difficult to play, so putting any of his symphonic pieces on a program really pushes the orchestra,” Muir said.
The second half of the concert showcases “Symphony in E minor” by American composer Florence Price, who was herself duly familiar with societal inequity as a woman of color.
“She wrote that she struggled as a Black woman to have her pieces programmed,” Muir said.
But she persevered.
“In 1932 Florence Price entered her ‘Symphony in E minor’ into a national composition competition and won the symphonic category prize,” Muir said. “This award caught the attention of Chicago Symphony Conductor Frederick Stock, who premiered the piece in 1933, resulting in the first performance of a symphony written by a Black woman by a major symphony orchestra,” a major milestone in musical history.
“Her distinctive style is inspired by spirituals and other African-American musical idioms, particularly the Juba Dance — with stomping and clapping — which appears in her first and third symphonies,” Muir said. “I love hearing a piece that’s new to me, and I’ve never had the opportunity to listen to any of Ms. Price’s works, so I’m very excited to see her symphony on the program.”
As a reminder, concertgoers must wear a mask in all indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
DuPage Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Striving for Justice’ Concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5
Where: Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville
Tickets: $6-$43
Information: dupagesymphony.org
More Top Picks Best Sandblasting Cabinets
Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.