This programme stems from the fascination that human beings, throughout history, have always harboured for the exotic, the unknown and the culturally distant. This fascination with ‘the other’ found particularly vivid expression in the musical works of various composers who, driven by imagination, literature, travel or simply the collective imagination of their time, sought to recreate sounds associated with cultures different from their own. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, exoticism became an important source of artistic inspiration. Through the orchestra, composers explored new timbral colours, unusual rhythms, exotic scales and evocative soundscapes, creating musical landscapes that transport the listener to idealised worlds in different parts of the globe.
Sounds from Distant Lands
Final Concert of the Conservatório de Música da Metropolitana Summer Course
John Williams Theme from the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (arr. Victor Lopez)
Merle J. Isaac Mexican Overture
N. Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol (arr. Richard Meyer)
Farangis Mirzad Women (arr. Tiago Moreira da Silva)
Merle J. Isaac Gypsy Overture
N. Rimsky-Korsakov Themes from the symphonic suite Scheherazade (arr. Richard Meyer)
Mark Lortz The Land of the Rising Sun
P. I. Tchaikovsky Themes from Capriccio Italien (arr. Richard Meyer)
Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5 (arr. Merle J. Isaac)
Tiago Moreira da Silva Musical Director