Rotterdam Student Orchestra | Connecting Worlds

Programme

• Three Dutch Tunes (arranged by Hans Kindler)
• Carl Maria von Weber: Andante e Rondo Ungarese for bassoon and orchestra
• Carl Nielsen: Helios Overture
• Pyotr Ilytch Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 2

The concert kicks off with three short songs that were originally collected by Dutch poet and composer Adriaen Valerius (c. 1570–1625) and later arranged by Dutch American conductor Hans Kindler (1892–1949). These Three Dutch Tunes evoke memories of the distant Eighty Years’ War. 

With Carl Maria von Weber’s (1786–1826) Andante e Rondo Ungarese, the musical landscape changes significantly. The German composer first wrote the piece in 1809 for viola and orchestra, but published a new version for bassoon in 1813. With its captivating mix of plaintive melodies, virtuosity and drama, the music is a delight for audience and musicians alike.

Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), generally recognized as Denmark’s most prominent composer, wrote the Helios Overture during a stay in Athens. The concert overture, first performed in 1903, is inspired by the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea and named after the Greek god of the sun. It vividly depicts the changes of atmosphere and lighting during the course of a day.

The programme concludes with Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s (1840–1893) Symphony no. 2. The heroic and joyful piece full of varied melodies was first performed in 1873 in Moscow and an immediate success. Tchaikovsky wrote most of the symphony during a stay in Ukraine, and it comes as no surprise that Ukrainian folk songs found their way into the music.

Conductor: Hanrich Claassen
Soloist: Nadia Lodewijk (bassoon)

More information about RSO and MSO

The RSO is a symphonic orchestra for students from Rotterdam and its vicinity. See for more information: https://www.nu-rso.nl/home-en/

The Musica Silvestra Orchestra (MSO) is the student symphony orchestra of Enschede. More information: https://www.mso.utwente.nl/