Find out at the NRO’s Alpine Symphony season finale
Who wants to go for an epic hike? We are talking about a trek like no other – a truly once-in-a-lifetime journey during which every step – from the headlamp-lit embarkation in the pre-dawn darkness, to sunrise, through a forest, past a brook, waterfall, meadow, to the summit and descending in dangerous weather – is experienced entirely through your ears and imagination.
For its grand finale of the 2024 festival season, the National Repertory Orchestra performs German composer Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony.
“It’s the perfect piece for Breckenridge, relatable to every single person here, local or visitor,” says National Repertory Orchestra CEO Dave DePeters. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve run up a 14,000-foot peak, you’ve never done a 14er, or you just like seeing these mountains every time you look outside. Every person in Summit County is a part of this alpine experience.”
Completed in 1915, Alpine Symphony was written as an homage to the Bavarian Alps, where Strauss built a house and underwent many adventures, including a trek in his childhood in which he and his group were caught in a storm on the way down. That experience inspired this auditory masterwork. The symphony is comprised of 22 sections, named for each phase of the mountain trek – “Night,” “Sunrise, “Wandering by The Brook,” “Calm Before the Storm,” etc.
“When you go to climb a peak like Quandary or Democrat, you start before daylight. Then you see the sunrise on your ascent. What does that sound like? When you hear it, you’ll know. It begins with a glow, then a blossoming of light. That becomes an intense sun,” DePeters explains. “It’s more than just the physical aspects of the journey. It’s about why we’re out there on that mountain. We’re doing it to find ourselves, to push ourselves, to experience something bigger than ourselves. You hear all of this in the music.”
Much like reaching the actual high point of a mountain, the symphony climaxes as the journey reaches its summit.
“It’s the grandest, most beautiful music you’ll ever hear,” DePeters says. “It just explodes. It’s like, boom! You know you’ve reached the summit. Then Strauss goes one step further with the ‘Vision’ movement after we’ve reached the summit. Because on any hike, when you reach the top, you’re not going to just turn around. You’re going to pause and look out. You think, I’m going to take in everything I possibly can while I’m here. I’m going to be proud of myself. I’m going to get emotional about the beauty of the world below. I’m going to feel like I’m just a tiny part of this massive, beautiful world … but I’m still a part of it. The music captures all of that.”
Conquer a mountain at the NRO’s Season Finale: Strauss Alpine Symphony. Beginning at 6 p.m. at The Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge, the program includes a showcase of the orchestra’s concerto competition winners. Reid Harman performs Thom Ritter George’s Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra, Juliyan Martinez performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, and horn players Elizabeth Crafton, Lily Kern, Catherine Dowd, James Picarello and Alex Daiker perform Robert Schumann’s Concertpiece for Four Horns and Orchestra. The entire orchestra joins forces for the final journey, enhanced by photographs of each landscape encountered along the way, An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss. Tickets start at $20 for adults and $5 for children.