Bouncing Off The Walls: Music & Architecture

Ludwig van Beethoven — Consecration of the House Op. 124
Giovanni Gabrieli — Sonata pian'e forte, Ch. 175
Franz Joseph Haydn — Symphony No. 47 in G major, Hob. I:47 ("I.Adagio" & "III. Minuet & Trio")
Anton Webern — Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10
Gioachino Rossini — William Tell Overture

Music and architecture share a vocabulary and they overlap through analogies and metaphors. Composers "build" symphonies, which are highly structured. And architects dream of buildings that unfold to the senses like music, a seamless flow of experience through time and space. Both forms use terms like ornament, balance and symmetry. But is architecture really "frozen music," an idea that emerged in the late 18th Century when musical forms were becoming longer and more complex? Join PCE for "Bouncing off the Walls: Music and Architecture," a concert which explores the complex relation between the two art forms, from music that was specifically written for particular buildings to early 20th-century modernist efforts to reduce both forms to their elemental materials. The program includes an overture by Beethoven written to celebrate a newly remodeled theater and opera house; works by Gabrieli, composed for the mighty Basilica of San Marco in Venice; a symphony by Haydn featuring one of the most complicated "architectural" forms ever composed; a short but volcanic work by Anton Webern; and a classic overture by Rossini, reassembled to maximize the acoustic possibilities of the Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre.

About PostClassical Ensemble

Under the leadership of Music Director Ángel Gil-Ordóñez, PostClassical Ensemble (PCE) takes the listener on a musical journey for the heart and mind. Through depth of interpretation and skillful execution, and with an ensemble of the most distinguished musicians in the area, the music comes alive with vibrancy and richness of expression.

Founded in 2003 by Angel Gil-Ordóñez and music historian Joseph Horowitz, PCE has been a pioneer in transforming the concert experience through innovative programming and with collaborations across artistic mediums. Their humanities-infused programming tells stories— exploring music in its cultural and historical context, and it often integrates theater, dance, film, and visual art, as well as folk, indigenous, and popular music and instruments.

https://www.postclassical.com/

About The Kennedy Center

https://www.kennedy-center.org/