Program Notes: Brahms' Symphony No. 4

This episode brings together three composers shaped by place, identity and tradition. In Augusta Holmès’s Irlande, pastoral beauty and mourning give way to a spirit of resilience, reflecting Ireland’s long struggle and enduring hope. Dvořák’s Violin Concerto follows, a richly lyrical work rooted in folk rhythms that ends the with a spirited dance, the Czech furiant. The program closes with Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, a work of striking emotional depth, culminating in a passacaglia that builds to a powerful, unresolved close — leaving us in a space where tradition and tragedy meet.

Masterworks 13 of the 25/26 Season
Performances May 15-17, 2026