Hérold: Overture to Zampa

French composer Louis-Joseph-Ferdinand Hérold achieved his greatest theatrical success with Zampa, ou La fiancée de marbre—Zampa, or The Marble Bride—which premiered in Paris in 1831.

The opera tells the story of Zampa, a charismatic pirate and seducer whose past eventually returns to condemn him. Its mixture of romance, danger, supernatural retribution, and theatrical spectacle made it enormously popular during the nineteenth century.

The overture compresses the opera’s dramatic world into a fast-moving orchestral showpiece. A commanding opening gives way to lighter, more lyrical music before the orchestra launches into an energetic conclusion. Brilliant woodwind writing, bold brass passages, and rapidly changing moods display Hérold’s instinct for the theater while providing a spirited opening to the concert.

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

In early 1924, bandleader Paul Whiteman asked George Gershwin to compose a new work for a concert intended to demonstrate the possibilities of American popular music. Working under a remarkably short deadline, Gershwin created Rhapsody in Blue, which premiered in New York on February 12, 1924, with the composer at the piano.

The piece famously begins with a clarinet trill followed by a sweeping upward glissando—one of the most instantly recognizable openings in American music. From there, the piano and orchestra exchange blues-inflected melodies, syncopated rhythms, romantic themes, and flashes of urban excitement.

Rather than following the strict structure of a traditional concerto, Rhapsody in Blue unfolds as a free-flowing succession of contrasting ideas. Its musical language combines jazz, blues, popular song, and European concert traditions, evoking the energy and ambition of 1920s New York.

At its premiere, the work immediately established Gershwin as a composer capable of bridging the worlds of the concert hall and American popular culture. More than a century later, Rhapsody in Blue remains a defining musical portrait of America—restless, exuberant, sentimental, and unmistakably modern.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor

Few compositions begin with a gesture as recognizable as the four notes that open Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. First performed in Vienna in 1808, the symphony transforms that compact rhythmic idea into a vast musical journey from darkness and conflict to radiant triumph.

The first movement, Allegro con brio, is driven by the famous short-short-short-long motif. It passes relentlessly through the orchestra, shaping nearly every part of the movement and generating an extraordinary sense of urgency.

The Andante con moto offers contrast through two alternating themes. One is graceful and reflective; the other has the character of a noble march. As these themes return in increasingly elaborate variations, moments of serenity are interrupted by hints of the struggle still to come.

The mysterious Scherzo begins quietly in the low strings before the horns proclaim a forceful transformation of the symphony’s opening rhythm. A vigorous central section follows, after which Beethoven gradually reduces the music to a hushed, suspenseful pulse.

Without a pause, the orchestra surges into the finale. The arrival of C major is made even more brilliant by the addition of piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones—colors Beethoven had withheld until this moment. The darkness of the earlier movements gives way to celebration, confidence, and overwhelming forward motion.

Beethoven’s Fifth is often described as a journey “from struggle to victory.” Whatever meaning listeners attach to it, the symphony’s emotional trajectory remains unmistakable: a seemingly simple four-note idea grows into one of music’s most powerful affirmations of resilience and triumph.