The performance seasons for many regional arts organizations are rapidly winding down. We're told the story of one out of Kerrville by Symphony of the Hills' Gene Dowdy.
“Symphony of the Hills is going to close our season with a concert called 'Bach and his disciples.' It’s a concert dedicated to the great Johann Sebastian Bach, the great German composer of the Baroque period, and just the influence he’s had through the hundreds of years since his life.”
When Bach died he was largely regarded as passé. It took composers re-presenting his music to secure his place in music history.
“Felix Mendelssohn brought Bach’s music back to the public’s eye. He had a music festival, he did ‘St. Mathew Passion.’ And then Bach became one of the three B’s—Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.”
They’re performing a wide variety of selections, but Dowdy highlights these two.
“We’re going to perform two orchestral transcriptions of organ works. One is his little Fugue in G Minor. And the other is his Toccata in Fugue in D Minor, which everybody will know from Fantasia." he said. "It’s a lot of good music by Bach. We’re also going to feature people he influenced. The music is spectacular and it’s going to be a wonderful concert. Our conductor is Jay Dunahoo, who is the Artistic Director and Conductor.”
The Thursday night concert in Kerrville’s Catherine CaillouxTheater is the symphony’s last performance of the season. But next season is on Dowdy’s radar.
“We’ve got next season planned out. We’re going to start off in October with a concert called ‘Heroes: Real and Imagined.’”
We’ll keep you posted. We’ve more on Symphony of the Hills here.
