Bard SummerScape 2007
"Elgar and His World" Celebrates 150th Birthday of Edward Elgar
For the first time, Bard SummerScape will take an in-depth look at a British composer in celebration of Edward Elgar's Sesquicentennial.
Composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934) may have been British but that doesn't stop the celebrations of his 150th birthday on this side of the pond. This summer, the Bard Summerscape will host a seven-week festival featuring dance, theatre, drama, opera, music, and more.
"Elgar and His World" will celebrate not only the composer himself but also contemporaries such as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Gilbert and Sullivan. To close the final two weekends of the festival (Aug.10-12 and 17-19), a special concert series will highlight Elgar's music, including his ever popular "Enigma" variations and Pomp and Circumstance.
But these memorable pieces won't be all. Elgar's compositional output covered a breadth of styles, from smaller chamber pieces to symphonies to vocal works. His Roman Catholic faith didn't fit with the overall Protestant atmosphere of Victorian England, but that didn't stop him from composing several sacred works as well.
The American Symphony Orchestra will remain in residence throughout the duration of the Festival. Music director Leon Botstein will conduct the orchestra.
To complement the music, symposiums and pre-concert talks will explore the social and historic setting of Victorian Britain. Topics will cover Elgar's development as a composer, histories of British bands and British music hall, Victorian and Edwardian culture (including technology, religion, science, literature, politics, and the Great War), and more. Panels for discussion will be free and open to the public.
In addition to Elgar's music, works by Holst, Mendelssohn, Faure, Debussy, and many more will also appear on the program. In addition, the American Symphony Orchestra will perform two new one-act operas by Alexander von Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy and The Dwarf . Also included on the playbill is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Sorcerer.
The Bard SummerScape is an annual festival dedicated to promoting the works of composers through scholarly study and careful performance. The festival is held on Bard's Hudson Valley campus. The festival's attention to historic context situates the music within a particular socio-cultural setting. For each festival since 1990, the Princeton University Press will publish a volume of scholarship.
This year's concert series and accompanying lectures, forums, symposiums, dance, and theatre promise to be an exciting and enriching experience. If you happen to be in New York this summer, don't miss it!
The Bard SummerScape 2007 is being promoted by 21c Media Group. For further information on the festival itself or to purchase tickets, please visit the festival's website.
