The concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The program will feature Ralph Vaughan Williams’ enchanting, ethereal “Five Mystical Songs” for baritone soloist, symphonic orchestra and choirs. Additional choral and orchestral works will be presented, including Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” and Vaughan Williams’ “Three Shakespeare Songs.”  Soloists featured on this concert include Dr. Timothy Schmidt, Southeast professor of music, on baritone in the “Five Mystical Songs,” and Clayton Seabaugh, saxophone soloist and winner of this year’s student Concerto and Aria Competition. 

“We are very excited about the upcoming ‘Five Mystical Songs’ concert,” said Dr. Sara Edgerton, conductor of the Southeast Missouri Symphony. “It is always thrilling to present our Concerto and Aria soloist in this concert, and Clayton Seabaugh will enchant the audience with the lovely, jazzy, ‘Scaramouche Suite.’” 

“This concert marks the first time in over two years that the symphony orchestra and choral ensembles have been able to collaborate and perform together on stage,” Edgerton added. “This is definitely a concert not to be missed.” 

The concert will open with several movements from Maurice Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite.”  Originally written as a piano duet and later orchestrated by Ravel, this work is a series of short movements based on folk tales such as the story of Tom Thumb and the story of the Sleeping Beauty. In its colorful images and lush harmonies, the orchestral suite is extremely popular and appealing.

Next on the program, the orchestra will perform the third movement, “Brazileira,” from the “Scaramouche Suite” by Darius Milhaud. Also originally composed as a piano duo, this work has found great popularity in the version for alto saxophone and orchestra. The movement performed at this concert, “Brazileira,” was inspired by Milhaud’s visit to Brazil. Latin American rhythms, especially the samba, permeate this jazzy, short movement.

The first half of the concert will conclude with one of the most famous orchestral works: Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero.” In this piece, a beautiful melody is stated many times on many different instruments, gradually growing from a very soft to a very fully-scored version of the tune. The persistent Spanish rhythm and jazzy, colorful feeling that this piece conveys created a sensation at its first performance in 1928, and it has remained a favorite of the orchestral repertoire ever since. It has been used in popular culture such as in films and as a featured tune in several recent Olympic events. 

The second half of the concert will open with “Three Shakespeare Songs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. These songs, sung a cappella, are settings of texts from the plays “The Tempest” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare. A series of three lovely English madrigals, by English composers John Bennet, Thomas Morley, and Orlando Gibbons, will next be presented.  The concert will conclude with a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Five Mystical Songs,” for baritone soloist, choir, and orchestra. Composed by Vaughan Williams in the early part of the twentieth century, these songs are settings of poems from a 1633 collection by the British poet, George Herbert. The texts are of a reflective nature and conjure up images of Easter, love, and light, all in a delicate, atmospheric musical setting by Vaughan Williams.

Tickets 

For more information, and to purchase tickets, contact the River Campus Box Office at (573) 651-2265 or visit RiverCampus.org.