Show Details

What do bird songs signify? Even in prehistoric times, the earliest humans must have enjoyed how birds made music in nature. Whether in the East or West, bird songs are harbingers of good tidings and this program presents them in a beautiful musical landscape. Mahler described the opening of his First Symphony as Naturklang: a sound of nature. Out of the extraordinary opening sonority emerge the sounds of birds, forming the musical basis of the entire work. In the program is the Chinese premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotique, featuring young pianist Xiaofu Ju, a work that weaves together bird songs from Europe, China, the Americas and beyond in a dazzling tapestry filled with natural verve. Faykueen Wang’s new BMF-commissioned work stems from the Chinese perspective, fusing contemporary compositional technique with bird songs found in Chinese traditional music. The second half of the program features Iain Farrington’s chamber orchestra arrangement of Mahler’s First Symphony, a work also distinguished by bird song. The first movement opens with the protagonist being awakened from slumber by a cuckoo awash in the wonders of nature. Perhaps this is an important revelation for all of us: different bird songs by different composers stir in our souls a passion for nature.

Track:
Faykueen Wang: Quantum Oceanarium(New Commission)
Olivier Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques

—intermission—

Gustav Mahler (arr. Iain Farrington): Symphony No. 1,
arranged for chamber orchestra

Artist/Group:
Xiaofu Ju, piano
Mahler Foundation Festival Orchestra
John Warner, conductor
Faykueen Wang, Olivier Messiaen，Gustav Mahler, composer