Mendelssohn and Beethoven

Mendelssohn's beloved Violin Concerto in E Minor is the last concerto he completed in his short life. Soloist is Vadim Gluzman, one of the premiere violinists of our time, known for his interpretations of works from the the Golden Age of violin music. Beethoven's Eighth Symphony is one of his liveliest compositions, full of joy and vivacity. Beethoven himself considered it among his best works.

In addition to these German monuments of the 19th century, the concert presents two American pieces of more modern origin. Charles Ives wrote his Third Symphony in 1904, but the piece sat in his drawer – meanwhile, Ives was working as a respectable insurance salesman – for over 40 years before it was premiered. It was a fate share by a number of this most innovative works, many of which were well ahead of their time. Ives's memories of going to mass as a child echo through his Symphony No. 3; old hymns weave in and out of the texture, forming a mesmerizing kind of chaos. Caroline Shaw received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 at only thirty years of age, making her the youngest recipient in the award's history. The piece performed on this concert is an interlude for string orchestra, inspired by a Haydn minuet and wonderfully reminiscent of the First Viennese School.