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In this traditional Christmas concert featuring the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and its artistic director, violinist and conductor Sergej Krylov, two works by Johann Sebastian Bach will evoke the Christmas spirit. Around 1721, he composed six orchestral works and dedicated them to his patron, Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg. Six concertos for various instruments that is how the composer titled them. Tonight, the audience will hear the Brandenburg concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048. Here, Bach does not single out soloists, but instead ingeniously employs a wide variety of string trio combinations by dividing the string orchestra into sections. The audience will also hear one of Bach’s most popular violin concertos, in G minor, BWV 1056R. Like other composers, Bach reused material from his earlier compositions for new works, and the precursor to this one is a keyboard concerto.

Joseph Haydn, the eldest representative of the First Viennese School, composed 103 symphonies. From his early symphonies the three best-known (Nos. 6, 7, and 8) were written in 1761 and bear the programmatic titles Le Matin (Morning), Le Midi (Noon), and Le Soir (Evening). These were the first works with which Haydn introduced himself to the Esterházy court orchestra and the audience. The titles of Haydn’s symphonies were usually given by friends or listeners. The title Le Matin for Symphony No. 6 is associated with the short, slow introduction of the first movement, reminiscent of sunrise.

The French impressionist Maurice Ravel described his rhapsody Tzigane (Gypsy) for violin and orchestra as a “virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody.” The composer dedicated it to one of the most famous violinists of his generation, the Hungarian Jelly d’Arányi, who premiered it in London in 1924. Interestingly, critics of the time panned the work, calling it kitsch, a pastiche, and ‘instrumental acrobatics’, yet today the rhapsody triumphantly travels across the world’s most famous stages.