The University of Queensland’s School of Music will present Franz Schubert’s world famous Unfinished Symphony at the concert finale of the 2003 4MBS Festival of Classics.
The concert will be held on Sunday, May 25 at 2pm at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) as part of a joint partnership between QPAC and Brisbane’s classical music station 4MBS Classic FM.
Head of the School of Music Professor Philip Bracanin said Schubert’s work had become even more popular with classical music lovers after it was featured in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report starring Tom Cruise.
“Composed some 200 hundred years ago Schubert’s so called Unfinished Symphony has not only continued to occupy a favoured place in the concert repertoire but has also proved its current relevance by playing a crucial musical role in the sci-fi blockbuster Minority Report,” Professor Bracanin said.
The other major work on the program will be Joseph Haydn’s Mass in B Flat – The Harmoniemesse.
Director Gwyn Roberts will conduct the UQ Symphony Orchestra during Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. The UQ School of Music Chorale will then join the performance for Haydn’s The Harmoniemesse under the baton of the University’s Director of Choral Activities Dr Richard Swann.
Professor Bracanin said Schubert’s status as one of the greatest composers in the history of music was confirmed by the way his music was able to transcend the barriers of time.
“The concentration, power and explosive emotional force of the music is constantly present; portraying intense human feelings, especially those traversing the abysses and heights of melancholy,” he said.
“While outstandingly complementing these emotional states Schubert’s music nonetheless is entirely suited to the context of the 21st century technological environment of the Minority Report.”
It is believed that Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony was left unfinished because he was unable to extend the beauty of the first two movements and abruptly finished the work a few bars into the third.
The Harmoniemesse was composed in 1802 and is the last of Haydn’s seven masses.
Professor Bracanin said Haydn’s innovative creativity was revered by his contemporaries.
“He is often regarded as the father of the symphony and the string quartet. In The Harmoniemesse as in the greatest of his instrumental works Haydn clearly celebrates the spirit of the Enlightenment,” he said.
Tickets for the concert can be purchased from the QPAC box office on the day of the event. They can also be ordered by phoning QTIX on 136 246 or online at www.qtix.com.au
Media: For more information, contact Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
