The First Concert
Everybody takes their seats. In front of the normal orchestra is a piano to play the concerto. All the players are in position. The conductor comes out and bows to great applause, then holds up a hand. The applause stops.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming to this, our first concert. As you no doubt well know, this is the first of our series of spotlights on Eutopian composers. Today is Robert Martinson.
Martinson was born on 17 February 1795 in a farmhouse in Jacobia. He was raised on this farm. However, his family eventually came into enough fortune to send him to a university in 1816, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It is there that he wrote his first symphony. It was so well recieved that he was soon commissioned by King Ernst I to write another symphony. It was as well recieved as the first.
Martinson went on to write ten symphonies, a piano concerto, and numerous other pieces, before his death in 1843 from unknown causes. Today, we shall listen to his Piano Concerto in D Minor and Symphony no. 3.
The Piano Concerto was written in 1834 to show his memories of his homeland. Mr. Joseph Martinson, one of Robert's decendants, will be playing.
More applause, and Joseph plays a beautiful piece based country life in the early 1800s. Peaceful phrases and chords go on for twenty minutes before the violins die out and horns come in, and all in the audience can imagine themselves in a hunt. Finally, the peaceful notes come back, and the music dies away. There is more thunderous applause. Joseph bows a few times, then walks off. The conductor turns and addresses the audience.
Thank you. We will now play the Symphony no. 3, which Martinson entitled "The Mountains of Eutopia". It was written in 1822, after Martinson had finished his studies at the university.
The conductor turns, then the violins play softly. Horns punctuate at times. The cellos put in a couple quick phrases, then suddenly the entire orchestra plays a majestic theme. This continues for a minute or so, then the other insturments die out and the violins take up the theme. Flutes come in from time to time. The horns play a powerful section. The music returns to the beginning, it seems, and then the full orchestra comes in. For another forty minutes similar changes occur. The music seems to evoke the rising and falling of the mountains that make up the western part of Eutopia. Then the orchestra returns to play the theme one more time, the violins play a series of notes, and the music comes to an abrupt halt at the cliffs on the west coast. The audience gives a standing ovation lasting a few minutes. The conductor bows many times. Finally, the ovation dies down, and everybody leaves, quite happy with the excellent concert.
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