Tanglewood in the City
Tanglewood
Pittsfield Common, Pittsfield, MA
Presented in partnership with Mill Town Foundation
Concert video presentation of:
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Nicole Cabell, soprano
Aaron Diehl, piano
Carlos SIMON Motherboxx Connection
BARBER Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, for soprano and orchestra
ELLINGTON New World A-Coming, for piano and orchestra
GERSHWIN An American in Paris
Pre-concert performances beginning at 6:00pm, featuring the Eagles Trombone Ensemble and Kids 4 Harmony
Performance Details
Jul 22, 2022, 7:30pm EDT
Program Notes & Works
Motherboxx Connection
The title of Simon’s Tales: A Folklore Symphony, of which Motherboxx Connection is the opening movement, suggests ties to such earlier African American composers as William Dawson (e.g., his Negro Folk Symphony) and William Grant Still.
Knoxville: Summer of 1915, for soprano and orchestra
Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is one of the bona fide classics of American music (not quite attaining the status of the composer’s universally beloved Adagio for Strings).
New World A-Coming, for piano and orchestra
Ellington's New World A-Coming was informed by, and takes its title from, a 1943 social history of Harlem by the prominent journalist Roi Ottley: New World A-Coming: Inside Black America.
An American in Paris
The Boston Pops began playing the piece regularly in 1929 with performances under Alfredo Casella, but the first BSO performance came much later, on August 9, 1974, at Tanglewood with Arthur Fiedler conducting.
