Tucson Symphony Orchestra will close out its 2023-24 Classics series this weekend with Holstβs epic suite βPlanets.β
The orchestra also will perform retiring University of Arizona composing professor Daniel Asiaβs 1991 symphony βAt the Far Edge,β a work commissioned by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra to mark its 50th anniversary.
βPlanets,β based on astrology, not astronomy, is a seven-movement work named after the planets: Mars, the Bringer of War; Venus, Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician; and Neptune, the Mystic.
The work, which the TSO hasnβt performed since guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen was at the podium in 2016, anchors a program Music Director JosΓ© Luis Gomez crafted mostly around the universe. The only work that doesnβt quite fit the theme is Asiaβs, which the orchestra is performing for the first time.
In program notes, Asia said he was influenced by the death of Aaron Copland around the time that he began the piece in December 1990. He wanted the work to reflect youthfulness and exuberance β it was to celebrate a youth orchestra, after all β but he also wanted to honor Coplandβs βmusical spirit, his striving for the simple statement, his distinctly American sense of rhythm, as well as a preference for high glistening sonorities,β Asia wrote. The result was a work that married the two emotional states, βone somewhat elegiac and transcendent, the other bright, and bursting with energy,β he added.
The TSOβs performance celebrates Asiaβs 70th birthday and his retirement in May from the UA, where he has taught for 35 years.
Asiaβs work opens the night, followed by Benjamin Brittenβs βFour Sea Interludesβ (βDawn,β βSunday Morning,β βMoonlightβ and βStormβ) from his opera βPeter Grimesβ and Ravelβs oceanic adventure of βUne barque sur lβocΓ©an.β
TSO is collaborating with Whipple Observatory, located on Mount Hopkins near Amado, for the concert. Whipple staff and volunteers will set up telescopes on the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall patio for folks to peer into the universe before going into the hall to hear the universe come alive in Gustav Holstβs music.
The TSO will perform the concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 12, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $14-$90 through tucsonsymphony.org.