Program Notes

“Overture” to Carmen
Georges Bizet (1838–1875)

Carmen was composed by Georges Bizet in 1874, and its Paris premiere in 1875 provoked much controversy, but it quickly became one of the most performed operas in the repertoire. The overture, often heard as a concert piece, functions both as a prelude and a thematic sampler that captures Bizet’s knack for bold melody and rhythmic vitality. Its opening, taken from the bullfighting music of the final act, is strikingly dramatic and establishes a sense of spectacle and inevitability. Rather than simply following a conventional operatic prelude, the Carmen “Overture” presents a collage of the opera’s main themes: the contrast of festive brilliance, lyrical charm, and martial vigor found in its music. In doing so, it succinctly encapsulates the opera’s major tensions—love and violence, freedom and fate. As both an introduction to the stage work and a stand-alone orchestral piece, the “Overture” is one of the most compelling and memorable in the nineteenth-century opera repertoire.

“Intermezzo” from Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945)

Pietro Mascagni burst onto the scene with his one-act opera Cavalleria Rusticana, which was performed for the first time in Rome in 1890 and is widely regarded as the start of Italian verismo. Adapted from Giovanni Verga’s play, the opera is about love, betrayal and revenge in a Sicilian village on Easter morning. Among its most lasting scenes is the “Intermezzo”, placed between scenes of mounting tension, which has become a life of its own in movies and in the concert hall. The music provides a lyrical pause amid the opera’s turmoil. 

With its tender string melody and orchestration, rich with luminous harmonies, it conveys both devotion and sorrow. To listen to this as a work, the “Intermezzo” performs itself as a wordless meditation on this time to build up the pathos of the story while holding its own as one of Mascagni’s most well-loved pieces. Its melodic beauty and emotional directness embody verismo: simple, sincere and touching.

Clair de Lune
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Arranged for Orchestra by André Caplet (1878–1925)

Claude Debussy wrote Clair de Lune in 1890 as one of the pieces included in his Suite Bergamasque for solo piano and later revised it for publication in 1905. From Paul Verlaine’s poem, the title is a fusion of Symbolism’s mix of lyricism and dreamlike melancholy that would come to define Debussy’s style. Since then, the piece has become one of his most beloved and recognizable works. Debussy’s close friend André Caplet later orchestrated the score, transforming the piano’s intimacy into a luminous orchestral soundscape. Lines drift from strings and winds, while harp and muted brass add subtle color, preserving the work’s delicacy while expanding its expressive range. When it takes shape like this, Clair de Lune gives off a feeling not only of moonlight that resembles a miniature poem, but also a testament to both Debussy’s artistry and Caplet’s sensitivity as an orchestrator.

Crown Imperial: A Coronation March
William Walton (1902–1983)

William Walton wrote Crown Imperial in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI at Westminster Abbey. Penned over a brief period of weeks, the march went on to become one of his most well-known and iconic ceremonial works. That title, derived from Shakespeare’s Henry V, conveys grandeur and regal dignity. As with Edward Elgar before him, Walton combined stately pomp with expansive lyricism, preserving the work’s place in British ceremonial heritage. The march also plays out like the classical “Imperial” format: a grand rhythmic start contrasted with a broad, noble trio theme, which can be thought of as pageantry at its height. Walton lends the form both immediacy and depth with his signature harmonies and vibrant orchestration. Concert performances at state occasions are popular, from coronations to jubilees, and Crown Imperial remains as just as much functionally ornate as concert material of dazzling vitality and craftsmanship.

Tom and Jerry at MGM
Music by Scott Bradley (1891–1977)
Arranged by Michael Berry

Scott Bradley was MGM’s main composer for Tom and Jerry cartoons from the 1940s through the 1950s and developed a musical style that matched the series’ wild humor and slapstick action. Classically trained and influenced by modernism, he combined symphonic composition with jazz, chromaticism, and witty quotations of popular and classical tunes. His scores were also “musical cartoons” in and of themselves and influenced the energy and timing of the animation. 

John Berry’s concert arrangement takes Bradley’s cartoon cues and brings them into one, as an orchestral showpiece. Shifts in tempo, key, and color are sudden, echoing the turmoil onscreen, and sly musical references produce comic punch. Beneath that laughter is a composer at the top, his intricate techniques rivaling the precision of his concert-hall peers. In performance, listeners get to indulge in Bradley’s wit and sophistication — as well as the percussion section’s playful role as onstage foley artists.

Star Wars Suite for Orchestra
John Williams (b. 1932)

John Williams wrote the score for Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), turning to late-Romantic symphonic traditions to create one of cinema’s most recognizable soundscapes. During an era when popular and electronic approaches ruled the roost on screen, his music revived the grand orchestral idiom and became inextricable from the saga’s epic storytelling. Williams would later pen the Star Wars Suite for Orchestra, a concert piece to showcase themes from the original trilogy. The suite includes the heroic “Main Title,” the darkly powerful “Imperial March,” the lyrical “Princess Leia’s Theme,” and the triumphant “Throne Room” music. Hearing in the concert hall, the themes highlight Williams’s gift for orchestration, his deployment of leitmotifs and his gift for taking film music to the level of symphony. More than a collection of familiar melodies, the suite unites Hollywood narrative with classical tradition, and the suite establishes Williams as one of the most consequential composers of the modern era.