Defying Expectations

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Despite the piece’s name, Milhaud’s Le boeuf is not about a cow on a roof – it’s the music written for Jean Cocteau’s farcical pantomime about a non-existent speakeasy in America during Prohibition, performed for the first time in Paris in 1919. Milhaud’s score is kaleidoscopic in color, with multiple keys and tonalities jostling with each other for supremacy – and it’s just plain fun, featuring incredibly virtuosic passages for the entire orchestra, all the way through. Winona Fifield, SoNA’s esteemed concertmaster will perform Max Bruch’s beloved and romantic Violin Concerto in G Minor, a piece that was a hit success despite being written early in Bruch’s career. To close out this program, we feature what is potentially the greatest piece of music you’ve never heard: Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3. This work — and the rest of Farrenc’s output — was lost to us until recently due to the music world often ignoring and dismissing female composers, but now its time has come! We are thrilled to be able to bring this outstanding and passionate music to you, some 177 years after she wrote it in 1847. Each of these pieces defy expectations in their own way – from Milhaud’s eclectic and wonderfully unpredictable style, to Bruch’s early success, to Farrenc’s bold persistence and assurance in her powerful voice despite many barriers to success. Great music pushes beyond barriers and expectations!