SMS 4: Ascetic

Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloist: Dama Sarah Connolly, soprano

Programme: 
Slavko Osterc, Religioso from the Suite for Orchestra
Gustav Mahler, Kindertotenlieder
Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 4 in E major, WAB 104, “Romantic”

A unique feature of musical art is the multifaceted connection of diverse compositions, which reveal certain similarities despite their many differences. Thus, parallels can be drawn between the ascetic personal musical expression of the neoclassical Slavko Osterc and two composers from the late nineteenth century. Osterc’s purified, declarative and not overly internalised Religioso is transformed into a distanced but vivid introduction to Mahler’s composition of deepest sorrow, while at the same time foreshadowing Anton Bruckner’s distinctly unromantic “Romantic” Symphony.