Appalachian Spring

In Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland vividly and colourfully depicts a spring day in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. This ballet score portrays a pioneer community in the early 1900s, following a young man as he marries and settles down to build a home.

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft: “It’s probably one of the pieces I’ve conducted the most in my life. And I’ve even danced in the ballet – I played the Evangelist. Most people perform the suite in concert, but I prefer the complete score, which has a clearer arc. It’s a work written during wartime, but that’s not reflected in the suite – the 11-minute battle scene is omitted. Is it a literal battle or one taking place inside someone’s mind? There’s a surreal quality to it that’s quite exciting.”

The concert opens with Jesper Nordin’s Convergence for solo violin, orchestra, live electronics and live visuals – created in collaboration with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the phenomenal violinist Pekka Kuusisto, who also performs as soloist. The work is the result of their shared fascination with different artistic expressions and musical genres. Convergence was premiered in San Francisco in 2023 and is a co-commission by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony.

Between Convergence and Appalachian Spring, we hear the rhapsody Midvinter (”Midwinter”) by Wilhelm Stenhammar – a depiction of a snow-covered Nordic landscape. This romantically evocative work, with touches of Swedish folk melody, hasn’t been performed at Konserthuset Stockholm since the 1950s.

Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft