Albemarle Symphony Orchestra - Fall Season Opener

Albemarle Symphony Orchestra

Conductor - Philip Clark

Guest Conductor - Mark Taylor

Soloist - Jeremy Ulm

César Franck — Symphony in D minor (1887–1888)

Composed between 1887 and 1888, César Franck’s Symphony in D minor stands as one of the great achievements of French Romantic music. Premiered in 1889, it was initially met with resistance but soon recognized as a masterpiece. Written in three movements rather than four, the symphony unfolds as a unified, cyclical work in which themes reappear across movements. The brooding first movement gives way to a lyrical Allegretto, inspired by a distant funeral procession, and a radiant, triumphant finale. Combining Germanic structure with French warmth and color, Franck’s only symphony remains a powerful expression of spiritual and emotional depth.

Hector Berlioz — Marche Hongroise (Hungarian March) (1846)

Hector Berlioz’s Marche Hongroise (“Hungarian March”) is one of his most brilliant and popular orchestral showpieces. Originally composed in 1846 as part of The Damnation of Faust, it adapts a Hungarian melody Berlioz heard while touring that country. Scored with dazzling orchestral color and rhythmic vitality, the march depicts the approach of a grand military procession, full of swagger and excitement. Its driving rhythms, bold brass, and fiery spirit have made it a favorite concert encore. The Marche Hongroise exemplifies Berlioz’s flair for vivid orchestration and his ability to transform local color into symphonic drama.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 (1786)

Composed in 1786, Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 is the last and most popular of his four horn concertos. Written for his friend, the virtuoso horn player Joseph Leutgeb, the concerto balances playful humor with elegance and warmth. Its three movements—a noble Allegro moderato, a tender Romance (Andante cantabile), and a jubilant Rondo (Allegro vivace)—showcase both the lyrical and heroic qualities of the horn. The colorful interplay between soloist and orchestra, along with Mozart’s effortless melodic invention, make this concerto a perennial favorite and a joyful expression of his mature classical style.