The Planets

Aaron Copland’s The Quiet City captures a city at night when the noise has died down, and the air feels thick with isolation and longing. Composed in 1939 for a short running play by Irwin Shaw, The Quiet City was composed as incidental music for the play’s main character: a lonely boy who tries to channel his anguish by playing the trumpet. The piece unfolds as a conversation between the trumpet and the cor anglais, capturing the uncertainty of the time as America entered World War II.

Ōtautahi composers Mahina-ini Kingi-Kaui (Kāti Irakehu, Ngāi Tuahuriri Kāti Huirapa, Te Whanau Pokai, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu,Ngāti Porou) and Reuben de Lautour debut Ngā Atua Wahine O Te Hau The Wind Goddesses. A Māori pūrākau story about the five sisters of the wind, it retells the powerful forces of Hine-rotia (the westerly), Hine-roroki (the northerly), Hine-hauone (who commands the sands where the ocean meets the land), Hine-aroaro-pari (who oversees the echoes of the cliffs beside the sea), and Hine-aroraki (who leads the wind that soars above the birds).

The Planets is an epic seven-movement orchestral suite that made British composer Gustav Holst a “rock star” of the orchestral world. Composed between 1914 and 1917, The Planets quickly became an international success. Inspired by each planet (except Earth), and Holst’s own love for astrology and horoscopes. Beginning with Mars, angry and ominous, the work moves through a kaleidoscope of emotions – from shimmering, ethereal strings, swelling brass, a heavy march, to a boisterous bounce. Extraordinary, mesmerising, and inspired, don’t miss the opportunity to experience one of the most impressive orchestral suites of all time.

This concert marks the farewell of our Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of 13 years, Maestro Benjamin Northey.

With thanks to PKF Goldsmith Fox, CSO Soloist Partner.

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