Celebration

James Judd Conductor
Patrick Barry Clarinet

Buchanan Fanfare for Peace
Copland Clarinet Concerto
Dvořák Symphony No. 9 'From the New World'

American sounds abound in Celebration. Antonín Dvořák was from what we now call Czech Republic, but, when invited on a tour of the United States, he returned home deeply inspired by the music he found there. The spirituals he heard sung by African Americans while on tour fired his imagination, and these moving tunes found their way into his Ninth Symphony, which he nicknamed “From the New World”.

The grandfather of American music, Aaron Copland, was crucial in shaping the sound of twentieth century American classical music. His Clarinet Concerto is a brilliant example of Copland’s lyrical, spacious, endlessly listenable style. Patrick Barry, our Principal Clarinet, steps out of the orchestra and into the spotlight as soloist in this seminal concerto.

Dorothy Buchanan is similarly an outstanding contributor to New Zealand music of today. Her Peace Fanfare was commissioned to commemorate the beginning of the new millennium, reflecting a universal hope for fresh starts begun in peace.