Juno Orchestra: Juno in June!

It’s “Juno in June!” Sunday, June 2, as the Brattleboro Music Center’s Juno Orchestra takes the stage with a program perfect for the coming of summer.

The program includes J. Mark Scearce’s Endymion’s Sleep, commissioned in 1998 by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra; Haydn’s Symphony 96 in D Major, The Miracle, first performed in London in 1791; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, which debuted in Vienna in 1801.

Endymion’s Sleep, an elegy of love and loss, is an impressionistic account of Selene, goddess of the Moon, and her fascination with the mortal, Endymion. As Juno Orchestra Director Zon Eastes notes, “We performed Endymion’s Sleep at our inaugural concert in 2017, and it’s worth hearing this elegy again today, as so many near and far are dealing with loss — perhaps of a dear beloved, of natural beauty, of a homeland.”

Eastes says of the Beethoven pieces, “By juxtaposing works appearing only 10 years apart, we hope to highlight some of the undeniable similarities between Haydn and Beethoven, and also reveal the remarkable sense of departure Beethoven brings to the symphony, still a nascent form.”

Nearing 60, Haydn was a prolific master of the symphony. This work was the first or second of Haydn’s final 12 symphonies, commissioned specifically for presentation in London, where, on repeated visits, he met with abiding fame and notoriety.

Only 10 years later, in Vienna, Beethoven was achieving his own version of notoriety. Surely inspired by Haydn, Beethoven’s first symphony crackles with energy and anticipation. While using the developing orchestral and formal structures much like Haydn or Mozart, Beethoven brings a striking efficiency and clarity to the symphony, while additionally revealing a flair for inventiveness and command.