I went to see the SC Philharmonic in their show, "Song and Dance." The point of this show was to celebrate the Greek Festival. The repertoire included Nikos Skalkottas Five Greek Dances, Copland's suite from Appalachian Spring, and Brahms' Symphony no. 2.
The performance was beautiful, each piece being very different from the last. The musicians were superb, each musician's face was different. Varying stages of concentration and joy showed on each face. The first piece, Five Greek Dances,was more upbeat. It was written and published in the 30s by Skalkottas. The music itself is based loosely on 36 Greek dances. The second piece was Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (my personal favorite!!!). The music is really beautiful, slow and melodic in the beginning, then becomes more upbeat, and then resolves with the simple tune Simple Gifts (instantly recognizable and very touching.) The third piece is Symphony no. 2 by Johannes Brahms. It opens softly, and moves to a more minor and melancholic tune. The end is still gentle, but seemingly happier. It is a beautiful piece that could be used to describe the fluctuation of somebody's mood, and perhaps that is what Brahms intended.
I will always love Aaron Copeland (although I have a love of Brahms as well) and his piece was my favorite of the evening, with Brahms coming in a close second. I didn't enjoy the Greek dances as much, perhaps because it was my first time hearing it and I wasn't really sure what I was listening to, until I read the background notes in the program later.
The Philharmonic performed beautifully and I really enjoyed the whole performance.
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