Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
Davóne Tines Bass-baritone
Various Sermon
I. “Shake the Heavens,” from El Niño (A Nativity Oratorio), by John Adams
II. “Vigil,” by Igee Dieudonné and Davóne Tines
III. “You Want the Truth, but You Don’t Want to Know,” from X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, by Anthony Davis
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 (November 5 and 7)
Beethoven Symphony No. 8 (November 5 and 7)
Simon Fate Now Conquers (November 6)
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (November 6)
In Sermon, bass-baritone and activist Davóne Tines performs contemporary works by John Adams and Anthony Davis, as well as “Vigil,” co-written by Igée Dieudonné and Tines and dedicated to the memory of Breonna Taylor. This modern masterpiece opens our continued celebration of Beethoven’s symphonies along with Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers.
Beethoven was just beginning to go deaf when he wrote his Second Symphony. He could have composed a manifestation of despair, but instead gave the world one of his most ebullient and life-affirming works. Perhaps the least known, the Fourth Symphony was widely admired: Schumann compared it to “a slender Greek maiden” between the two “Norse giants” of the Third and Fifth; Berlioz insisted it was the work of an angel. The exhilarating and familiar second movement is said to have been so inspiring at the premiere, an encore was demanded instantly. Placing Beethoven’s motifs in a contemporary musical landscape, composer Carlos Simon draws on the uncertainty that Beethoven felt and turns it into inspiration with Fate Now Conquers.
Please note: This performance originally included Mozart's Symphony No. 40.