A little variety makes things interesting, especially when it comes to music.
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra will perform its “Brahms and Elgar Variations” concert at 7:30 p.m. March 24 and 2:30 p.m. March 25 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
The center of this program is Edward Elgar’s “Cello Concerto,” which was written during the aftermath of World War I.
“It’s a concerto that’s extremely well-known, but it’s a piece that hits me in my soul — it’s so wonderfully depressing,” said Conductor and Music Director Andrew Grams. “It’s incredibly moving, it’s reflective. Everything about it is very darkly tinged.”
Tackling this mournful solo cello staple is guest cellist Thomas Mesa, winner of the 2016 Sphinx Competition, an annual contest in Detroit open to all junior high, high school and college-age black and Latino string players residing in the United States.
“He has a wonderful sound, rich and beautiful,” Grams said. “He has a very expressive style of communicating that goes very well with this concerto.”
Also on the program, framing the concerto, are two sets of orchestral variations. In both, a musical theme is tweaked and repeated multiple times in a variety of ways.
“When the audience knows it’s a set of variations, you know the theme is always going to be there, even if you don’t recognize it,” Grams explained. “You get to delight in the skill of the composer hiding the theme in plain sight.”
The first is “Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn,” also know as “Saint Anthony Variations,” written by Johannes Brahms in 1873.
“What he did is take a chorale and create a set of variations to the melody — fast, slow, happy, melancholy,” Grams said.
In fact, there are eight versions in the piece, all with their own vibe.
The concert concludes with another set of orchestral variations, Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” completed in 1899.
“He created a set of orchestral variations on an original theme based on people in his community,” Grams said.
The work features 14 unique variations, each depicting someone within the composer’s circle of family and friends, including his wife, a piano-playing friend, a bulldog named Dan, even Elgar himself.
“Each variation is a different personality,” Grams said. “Each variation is its own little picture, like a musical portrait.”
For a deeper understanding of this work, don’t miss “Inside the Music with Andrew Grams: Elgar’s Enigma Variations,” which takes place 8 p.m. March 23 at the Hemmens Cultural Center. For the first half of the event, Grams explains the piece using excerpts played by the orchestra. After intermission, the orchestra performs the work in its entirety. Tickets for this 90-minute presentation range from $10-$30.
“It’s wonderful music by itself, but when you know the backstory, it’s even better,” Grams said.
After the Saturday-night concert, the audience is invited to “Mingle with the Musicians” at Bennigan’s, 495 Airport Road in Elgin.
Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Elgin Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Brahms and Elgar Variations’
When: 7:30 p.m. March 24 and 2:30 p.m. March 25
Where: Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin
Tickets: $10-$65
Information: 847-888-4000; http://www.elginsymphony.org
