Sarah Chang: Brahms & Sibelius

Sarah Chang: Brahms Violin Concerto & Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3 The star returns to New West Symphony to perform Brahms’ uncharacteristically sweet violin concerto, a piece bursting with melodies. Grammy-winning Music Director Michael Christie also conducts the orchestra in Jean Sibelius’ majesty and bouncy Symphony No. 3, one of Christie’s signature works to conduct. Brahms wrote the Violin Concerto while on summer holiday on a lake in Vienna, where he said there were so many melodies, he had to be careful not to step on them. Unusual for his day, Brahms left a space for the violinist to improvise. While Brahms’ music isn’t usually thought of as cheerful, there’s plenty of lightheartedness in his Violin Concerto. With his Third Symphony, Jean Sibelius decided to go against the current. While the trend for popular composers was to use larger and larger orchestras with a bolder Romantic style, Sibelius intentionally wrote for a smaller orchestra and in a more structured, Classical style. He also liked a darker sound, so the work is heavy on cellos and basses. Lovers of the symphonic form, like Sibelius was, will love the interconnectedness of melodies, rhythms, and themes.