Aiken Symphony strings concert set for Jan. 19

(Story from an Aiken Symphony new release. Photo from Pixabay)

Aiken Symphony’s string section will present the second performance of the 2023-24 Chamber Series, “Strings Attached,” at 7:30 p. m., Friday, Jan. 19 at Amentum Center for Performing Arts.

Under the direction of Scott Weiss, the program begins with the other-worldly and multidimensional “Starburst” by up-and-coming composer Jessie Montgomery, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence, according to a new release.

Next in the program is the heart-wrenching “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber, which began as the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Having been played following the deaths of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, and in the days after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, this work became America’s music for mourning. Through his prolific output and accessible approach to modern music, Barber cemented himself as a great American composer, with accolades such as the American Prix de Rome and two Pulitzer Prizes adding to his reputation, the release said.

Ralph Vaughan Williams championed English folk tunes with “Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus,’” beginning with an introduction, opening theme and five variations that follow. The original Christmas carol is based on the story of a poor man begging for food from a wealthy man and where the two end up after death, either in heaven or hell.

Although the “Capriol Suite” was composed by Peter Warlock (the pseudonym used by Philip Arnold Heseltine) in the early twentieth century, this set of dances evokes the music of the Renaissance era with a modern touch. Warlock lived a double life as a harsh music critic going by his birth name while writing original songs inspired by early music under the pseudonym.

There is no better piece to close a strings-only concert than Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings.” The composer himself remarked that “this is a piece from the heart,” accomplished with a masterful combination of his signature soaring melodies and lush harmonies, as well as a Viennese Waltz, elegy and characteristically Russian finale, the release said.

General admission tickets are $40. Active military members are eligible for $10 off each ticket by calling the office at the phone number below. Tickets are available at aikensymphony.com or call the office at (803) 295-0313.