Event Information and Program Notes

Met Concert #2 – Flare

Saturday 6th June 7:00pm

Program:

Graeme Brown – Endangered Species *World Premiere*

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol

Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une infante défunte

Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird Suite (1919)

Conductor: Sarah-Grace Williams

Venue: Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 1 Conservatorium Road, Sydney NSW 2000

Acknowledgment Of Country

The Metropolitan Orchestra acknowledges the traditional Aboriginal custodians of the land.

We acknowledge this is a country in which the members and elders of the local Aboriginal communities have been custodians for many centuries, and on which these people have performed age-old ceremonies.

The Metropolitan Orchestra acknowledges and pays our respects to the Gadigal, Wangal and Dharug peoples of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this land on which we perform, and we pay our respects to all Elders both past and present.

Supported by Inner West Council

Graeme Brown

Endangered Species

i.Bengal Tiger — Andante con moto / Allegretto / Allegro
ii. Polar Bear — Largo
iii. Eagle — Andante / Moderato
iv. Hope — Adagio / Andantino (energico con ritmo) / Largo

Australian composer Graeme Brown’s Endangered Species is a sweeping new orchestral work that gives voice to the planet’s fragile ecosystems through three iconic animals: the Bengal Tiger, Polar Bear, and Eagle. Rich orchestral colour and emotional depth bring their shared struggle for survival to life, before the work closes with a final universal message of Hope.

Bengal Tiger — Andante con moto / Allegretto / Allegro
The suite opens with a sense of prowling tension. A solo flute traces the tiger’s quiet movement as the orchestra gradually gathers energy. This builds into a rhythmic pursuit, driving forward with urgency and culminating in a powerful, dance-like climax.

Polar Bear — Largo
The once-stable Arctic has become uncertain and foreboding. Low brass and strings swell with a feeling of anguish and isolation, giving way to a mournful theme on the cor anglais. Brief moments of warmth break through, but the icy atmosphere never fully lifts.

Eagle — Andante / Moderato
Woodwinds, harp, and brushed cymbals create a sense of open air as the eagle glides high above. Calm and watchful, it circles before spotting its prey. The music shifts into an urgent 11/8 rhythm, driven by bassoons, low brass, and lower strings, as the bird dives with precision. Calm returns once more, and survival is secured, if only for now.

Hope — Adagio / Andantino (energico con ritmo) / Largo
The final movement shifts to a nocturnal urban landscape. Violins and violas set a quiet tension, while a distant, blues-inflected clarinet echoes like a solitary voice. A harp introduces a muted trumpet with a jazz-like phrase, and the orchestra gradually builds across sections toward a driving, almost chaotic energy. The closing Largo begins like a hymn, evolving into a jazz-tinged harmony and ending on an unresolved cadence, suggesting that “Hope springs eternal”.

© Graeme Brown 2026

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (1844-1908)

Capriccio Espagnol

Composed in 1887, Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the premiere performance of Capriccio Espagnol later that year in St Petersburg. The work shows off several of the instruments in the sixty-seven piece orchestration with well-written solo passages, composed for his favourite musicians in the St Petersburg Imperial Opera Orchestra for whom he scored the Capriccio.

The Capriccio is structured in five movements, collected into a broader two parts comprising of the first three movements followed by the last two movements respectively. The first movement is a lively alborada dance, featuring clarinet solos that are taken over by solo violin later in the movement. Horns open the second, variazioni movement, passing the horn melody around the orchestra. The alborada returns in the third movement to end the first section. Brass, solo violin, flute, clarinet then harp open the fourth movement with a scena e canto gitano (scene and gypsy song), followed by a lilting dance. This continues straight into the final fandango asturiano dance for the fifth movement, and concludes with an exciting recollection of the opening alborada.

© Andrew Doyle 2026

Ravel, Maurice (1875 – 1937)

Pavane pour une infant défunte

Composed in 1899 for solo piano, Ravel dedicated this work to Princesse Edmond de Polignac, however it was not premiered until 5 April 1902 in Paris. The title, Pavane pour une infant défunte translates to, Pavane for a Dead Princess. Ravel described picturing a ‘slow Spanish dance to which a little princess may once have danced.’

The stylistic origins of the work are from Spain, a country and culture that was dear to Ravel’s heart, with his mother born in the Basque region and being raised in Madrid. A pavane is a slow, processional dance from Spain, often performed in churches as a parting farewell to the deceased. The Princess that Ravel refers to is unknown, and he assured his audience that, ‘I simply liked the sound of the words and I put them there.’

The work proved extremely popular as a piano work, and Ravel orchestrated it for strings, two flutes, oboe, two clarinets, two bassoons and harp in 1910, first performed on 27 February 1911 in Manchester, England. Like the solo piano version, the orchestral arrangement was extremely well received by audiences, and remains one of Ravel’s most-loved works to this day. Unfortunately, Ravel dismissed the quality of his work, writing in 1912, ‘I no longer see its virtues from this distance … the influence of Chabrier is much too glaring, and the structure rather poor. The remarkable interpretations of this inconclusive and conventional work have I think, in great measure contributed to its success.’

© Andrew Doyle 2026

Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971)

The Firebird Suite

In 1909, Igor Stravinsky was a relatively unknown 27-year-old composer living in Saint Petersburg. That changed overnight when Sergei Diaghilev, the visionary impresario of the Ballets Russes, took a gamble and commissioned Stravinsky to write a new ballet for his upcoming Paris season based on the Russian folktale of the Firebird. The resulting masterpiece not only catapulted Stravinsky into international stardom but also altered the trajectory of 20th-century music.

The ballet’s narrative weaves together various Russian fairy tales. It tells the story of Prince Ivan, who wanders into the enchanted garden of the demonic King Kashchei. There, Ivan captures the mythical Firebird, a creature of blinding beauty and magical power. In exchange for her freedom, she gives Ivan one of her glowing feathers, promising protection. When Kashchei’s monsters capture Ivan, the Prince uses the feather to summon the Firebird. She bewitches the demons into a frenzied dance, lulls them to sleep, and guides Ivan to destroy the magical egg containing Kashchei’s soul, dissolving the evil realm forever.

While the original 1910 ballet required an gargantuan orchestra, Stravinsky later streamlined the instrumentation without losing any of the score’s vivid, iridescent color.

The suite opens with the Introduction, a murky, low-register depiction of Kashchei’s enchanted garden, leading directly into the shimmering, restless textures of the Firebird’s Dance. Here, Stravinsky utilizes dazzling woodwind trills and chromatic leaps to mimic the bird’s frantic, brilliant flight. Following the lyrical and tender Round Dance of the Princesses, which utilizes a traditional Russian folk melody, until the peace is shattered by the immense Infernal Dance of King Kashchei. This movement is a masterclass in rhythm, driven by syncopated, explosive orchestral accents that physically jolt the listener. As the frenzy subsides, a haunting bassoon solo introduces the Berceuse (Lullaby), soothing the exhausted demons to sleep. A seamless, magical horn solo marks the transition into the Finale. Built on an ancient Russian hymn, the melody passes through the orchestra, growing from a quiet whisper into a monumental, brass-fueled crescendo. With its triumphant, asymmetric meters and blazing major chords, the finale celebrates the dawn of a new, liberated world.

© Andrew Doyle 2026

The Metropolitan Orchestra – Click Here To Read TMO’s Biography.

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Sarah-Grace Williams. Click Here To Read Sarah-Grace’s Bio.

This Evening’s Musicians

Concert Master: ^Victoria Jacono-Gilmovich

#Concert Master * Principal ^Associate Principal

Click here for a list of musicians who regularly perform with The Metropolitan Orchestra

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