Revisiting Debussy’s La mer post pandemic
Henry Auxenfans
ARTISTS
Gregory Hughes Conductor
Henry Auxenfans Violin
Winner of the Young Artist Competition
PROGRAM
SMYTH: Serenade
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
DEBUSSY: La mer
“I feel I must fight for my music, because I want women to turn their minds to big and difficult jobs; not just to go on hugging the shore, afraid to put out to sea.”
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WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT THIS CONCERT
In March of 2020, the Lakeview Orchestra was just two weeks away from performing Claude Debussy’s La mer when our concerts were cancelled due to Covid-19. Now, almost two years later, we’re revisiting the work to honor those lost in the pandemic and to celebrate our return to the stage.
Ethel Smyth wrote a vast array of chamber music and solo pieces, dozens of works for choir, and six operas. Her Serenade, however, is one of only two compositions written specifically for symphony orchestra.
Debussy’s La mer is not merely the composer’s magnum opus, but also a connection between music and visual art. The score to La mer was first published in 1905 and featured Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa on its cover. Since then the two works, La mer and The Great Wave, have become a nearly inseparable pair. (Do a Google Image search for “Debussy’s La mer” and see for yourself!)
Hokusai’s The Great Wave