The Decline of the Waltz

The concert opens with Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, a dramatic and lyrical concerto for cello and orchestra, featuring cellist Andreas Brantelid performing with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.

The second half of the programme traces the waltz's history as a symbol of a changing Europe. Johann Strauss the Younger's Kaiserwalzer ("Emperor Waltz", 1889) pays homage to the Habsburg Empire, with a march-like introduction that flows into the familiar waltz melody. Frederick Septimus Kelly composed his Elegy, In Memoriam Rupert Brooke for string orchestra as a lament for his friend, war poet Rupert Brooke, who fell at the front in 1915. Maurice Ravel's La Valse (1919-1920) begins in darkness where melodic fragments slowly take shape, but the waltz's joy gradually transforms into frenzy and the music collapses in a furious crescendo.

Programme:
Prokofieff - Sinfonia Concertante (approx. 37 min)
Intermission 25 minutes
Strauss - Emperor Waltz (approx. 10 min)
Kelly - Elegy, In Memoriam Rupert Brooke (approx. 10 min)
Ravel - La Valse (approx. 13 min)