In these trying and uncertain times, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra is affirming man's goodness and resilience through the program entitled "The Triumph of the Common Man." Conductor Diane Wittry has chosen Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Giuseppe Verdi's Overture to La Forza del Destino and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony #9 as exemplars of music history that were inspired by ordinary people. This concert will take place on Saturday, May 17 at 8:00 p.m. at the Norwalk Concert Hall. A special abbreviated version of it for families with young children will occur on Sunday, May 18, at 3:00 p.m. with an examination of the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Beethoven revolutionized the symphonic format by including singers in his magisterial work. Vocal soloists, Kathleen Ann Theisen, Barbara Rearick, Scott Murphree and Thomas Woodman and the Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut will join forces with the symphony for this piece. A particularly engaging book on this work is Esteban Buch's Beethoven's Ninth : A Political History.
To whet your appetite, be sure to stop off at the Library to get recordings of these pieces. If Ms. Wittry's pre-concert lecture coupled with the music makes you ponder on the nature of man, the Library suggests Rene Huyghe's Art and the Spirit of Man, Hugh Prather's Spiritual Notes to Myself and Adin Steinsaltz's Simple Words.