Hymn to the Sun

The Emerald Ensemble joins the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Larson, for a concert of late Romantic French masterworks.

Our chorus of sixteen voices will join the orchestra for three works. The sumptuous Pavane of Gabriel Fauré, usually performed by orchestra alone, will be heard in the composer’s version with chorus. The concert closes with two works by Lili Boulanger, one of the most original composers of her generation notwithstanding her tragic death at age twenty-four. These are Sous bois (“Undergrowth”) and Hymne au Soleil (“Hymn to the Sun”), presented in new orchestrations by Maestro Larson.

In addition, the Emerald Ensemble’s own Melissa Plagemann will feature as soloist in Maurice Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Mallarmé, one of the greatest song-cycles of the twentieth century. The orchestra will round out the concert with instrumental music by Édouard Lalo and Ravel’s masterful Suite from the ballet Ma mère l’Oye (“Mother Goose”).