City Newspaper Archives - 2/2007
CLASSICAL: RPO (2/16)
Published by Brenda Tremblay on Feb 13, 2007
Music is wonderfully bipolar. Consider "Happy Birthday," sung in a major key, vs. "Hurt," the Johnny Cash swansong delivered in a minor key for maximum heart-breakage. "Everyone I know goes away in the end." Now that's sad.
Since the beginning of time, songwriters and composers have manipulated musical keys to effect particular emotions. Theories abound as to why "G major" seems happy while "A minor" sends us sniffling to the tissues.
On Friday, February 16, RPO Music Director Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will explore how some of those theories play out in symphonic music in a program titled "Major and Minor." After the concert, the charismatic Seaman will take questions from the audience. The concert takes place at Hochstein Performance Hall, 50 North Plymouth Avenue, 454-2100, 7:30 p.m., $22. www.rpo.org.
