05/02/19
By Ruth Firestone
Hays music lover
HAYS, Kan. – The Hays Symphony Orchestra will conclude its 2018-2019 season with two vastly different works connected only by the idea of suicide, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, “Pathétique” (emotional, not pitiful, 1893) and the world premiere of Timothy Rolls’ “Cassini Overture” (2019).

The free concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4, in Sheridan Hall’s Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center on the Fort Hays State University campus.

Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, written shortly before his death, is thought by some to be his suicide note. Only circumstantial evidence exists for this, though. Tchaikovsky confirmed that the symphony had a “program,” or underlying non-musical idea, but would not tell anyone what this idea was.

Moreover, he died of some sort of poisoning, either from impure water or arsenic, only nine days after having conducted the premiere. To me, the strongest evidence is the unusual sequencing of the symphony’s four movements. The slow movement, which normally comes second, comes fourth, ending the symphony not with a bang, but a whimper.

No matter what Tchaikovsky intended, a number of modern American composers have been inspired by the symphony’s melodies – like “This is the Story of a Starry Night,” arranged by Glenn Miller.

The premiere of “Cassini Overture,” commissioned by Shah Sadikov and the Hays Symphony, describes musically the path of the Cassini-Huygens Probe through the moons of Saturn to its “suicidal run into the atmosphere of the gas giant.”

Rolls explains the program: “Each moon is represented musically by a characteristic. For example, Enceladus is known for geysers so the flute and clarinet alternate a rising/falling figure that depicts them; Titan is known for methane, with methane rain that falls, represented by the marimba.”

There are also a couple of veiled references to Gustav Holst’s “Saturn,” one of “The Planets.”

The concert is sponsored by a generous donation from Michael Meade, with post-concert refreshments underwritten by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation.

Free tickets are available in the lobby before the concert, in advance at the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau, 27th and Vine, at The Downtown Hays Development office, 1200 Main, or online at hayssymphony.org.