Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Enough Tchiakovsky!

Some symphonies we'd like to hear in San Diego

Aleksandr Borodin: a full grown man with resplendent whiskers.
Aleksandr Borodin: a full grown man with resplendent whiskers.

Having gone over some violin concertos, I feel it only fair to rundown some lesser known symphonies which don’t get much play in San Diego. Brahms is not on this list since, including this season, we’ve gone through all four of his symphonies twice at the San Diego Symphony.

In my opinion the number one symphony which needs a performance is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3. This is Vaughan Williams’ “pastoral” symphony. No one does pastoral better than uncle Ralph. Nature is a consistent theme across the music of Vaughan Williams.

Video:

Nobody does pastoral better than Vaughn Williams

I feel his Symphony No. 3 as being appropriate around Thanksgiving. I’m not sure why that but I find myself giving it a stream, not a spin, every autumn. In all likelihood this piece would be scheduled in spring. If not Vaughan Williams’ third then maybe his fifth? The fifth is more introspective but no less beautiful.

Sponsored
Sponsored

We, and every other city with a symphony orchestra, have had our fill of Tchaikovsky symphonies, but what we rarely get is a Borodin symphony. Borodin’s From the Steppes of Central Asia is certainly famous but I find his Symphony No. 2 to be the work of a full grown man with resplendent whiskers. What I’m trying to say is that this symphony has swag and plenty of it.

You have to know I’m putting Bruckner on this list. While we get a steady diet of his pupil, Gustav Mahler and his frenetic woodwinds, we rarely get the masterful Bruckner. Last season The San Diego Symphony did perform Bruckner’s Symphony No.8 and we also got his Symphony No. 4 a few years ago. However, I think a Bruckner symphony 5, 6, 7, or 9 is required before we get Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 again. I'd settle for Bruckner's third.

In 2015 we got a part of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 at a free concert in Balboa park, but I want the full thing. Is this the most prestigious symphony in the world? No, but it’s one of the loudest so I want to hear it.

There you have it, a list of symphonies I want to hear. I might have to start traveling more.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Aleksandr Borodin: a full grown man with resplendent whiskers.
Aleksandr Borodin: a full grown man with resplendent whiskers.

Having gone over some violin concertos, I feel it only fair to rundown some lesser known symphonies which don’t get much play in San Diego. Brahms is not on this list since, including this season, we’ve gone through all four of his symphonies twice at the San Diego Symphony.

In my opinion the number one symphony which needs a performance is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3. This is Vaughan Williams’ “pastoral” symphony. No one does pastoral better than uncle Ralph. Nature is a consistent theme across the music of Vaughan Williams.

Video:

Nobody does pastoral better than Vaughn Williams

I feel his Symphony No. 3 as being appropriate around Thanksgiving. I’m not sure why that but I find myself giving it a stream, not a spin, every autumn. In all likelihood this piece would be scheduled in spring. If not Vaughan Williams’ third then maybe his fifth? The fifth is more introspective but no less beautiful.

Sponsored
Sponsored

We, and every other city with a symphony orchestra, have had our fill of Tchaikovsky symphonies, but what we rarely get is a Borodin symphony. Borodin’s From the Steppes of Central Asia is certainly famous but I find his Symphony No. 2 to be the work of a full grown man with resplendent whiskers. What I’m trying to say is that this symphony has swag and plenty of it.

You have to know I’m putting Bruckner on this list. While we get a steady diet of his pupil, Gustav Mahler and his frenetic woodwinds, we rarely get the masterful Bruckner. Last season The San Diego Symphony did perform Bruckner’s Symphony No.8 and we also got his Symphony No. 4 a few years ago. However, I think a Bruckner symphony 5, 6, 7, or 9 is required before we get Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 again. I'd settle for Bruckner's third.

In 2015 we got a part of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 at a free concert in Balboa park, but I want the full thing. Is this the most prestigious symphony in the world? No, but it’s one of the loudest so I want to hear it.

There you have it, a list of symphonies I want to hear. I might have to start traveling more.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1
Next Article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader