A Rustic Wedding and Whale Songs For Earth Day

Celebrating Earth Day 2013 on Symphony @7 this evening, we'll have two works that have an outdoor setting, one with human beings in harmony with their natural surroundings, and one taking us beneath the ocean and portraying the great whales, whose realm is very much threatened by human activity. The world of nature is readily apparent in Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony from 1875.  Like Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, it's in five rather than four movements and instead of a walk in the countryside, the inspiration comes from an outdoor wedding celebration.  The movement titles are suggestive: Bridal March,Wedding Song, Serenade, In the Garden, and Dance. Here's a sample: http://youtu.be/LEXAWE_Wdn0 And God Created Great Whales is a composition from 1970 by the American composer of Scottish and Armenian descent, Alan Hovhaness.  It's a twelve minute excursion to the seven seas for actual whale song recordings mixed with symphonic music in a tribute to the great denizens of the deep.  It was commissioned by Andre Kostelanetz and the New York Philharmonic for performances the same year as the first Earth Day celebrations in 1970. http://youtu.be/RzSWGPmjwjA Join me this evening as we recognize the world of nature in a Late-Romantic musical work portraying a human celebration in an outdoor rustic setting and then a more modern piece presenting the majestic and more mysterious realm of the ocean and the greatest of all sea creatures, here on Symphony @ 7.