MAN & NATURE: Exploring the Elements in Music
From our earliest origins through the Renaissance thinkers to modern times, humankind has observed its most common and constant companion: nature. Artists of all stripes—from composers to painters, sculptors, writers and photographers—have forged those observations into a universe of works honoring nature’s essential elements. Beginning with Winter Festival 2011, the NJSO launches a multi-year odyssey through the elements with WATER, exploring the vast depths and symbolic power of a seemingly simple substance that has inspired composers for centuries.

WATER
From the rolling swells and open ocean of Debussy’s La Mer to the contemplative reflections of Tobias Picker’s Old and Lost Rivers, you’ll hear water depicted both literally and symbolically. Perpetual motion in the famous music by Smetana conveys the timeless and unending flow of the Moldau, while the lake of tears in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake plays a starring role in the ballet but is never seen. And in a major festival highlight, WATER features a composer who reverses the paradigm, using the elements to make music: water itself is the solo instrument in Tan Dun’s spectacular Water Concerto.