PhilHERmonic

As part of the PhilHERmonic series – celebrating the month of women at the Philharmonic – we will recall Emilie Mayer's Symphony No. 1. During her lifetime, Mayer was called the "Beethoven in a skirt" and was the most creative and famous female composer of her time. She is particularly significant to Szczecin, as she was closely connected with our city for many years. It was here that she studied the art of composition under none other than Carl Loewe. Symphony No. 1 is a piece faithful to classical models, full of musical imagination, and demonstrates compositional talent. The work's premiere took place in Szczecin in 1847 and impressed the composer's master.



The Etude for Orchestra has some Baroque monumentalism and seems to draw inspiration from the works of Stravinsky. The piece comes from the first neoclassical period of Bolesław Szabelski's work – a student of Karol Szymanowski and a teacher of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. The world premiere of the work took place just a few months before the outbreak of World War II, which forced Mieczysław Weinberg to emigrate eastward. His music is currently experiencing a renaissance. Concerto for trumpet and orchestra is one of the finest works of its kind, at least since the times of Haydn and Hummel. It is a piece characterised by musical continuity and emotional tension, leading Shostakovich to call it a "symphony for trumpet and orchestra."