Rodolfo Leone
Patriotic hymns, Norwegian dance rhythms and the sweeping flight of swans will shape “Songs for the Homeland” when the Newport Symphony Orchestra performs at the Newport Performing Arts Center this Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8.
The concerts continue the orchestra’s celebration of Adam Flatt’s 20th anniversary season as music director. Italian pianist Rodolfo Leone will join the orchestra for Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor” on a program that also features William Schuman’s “New England Triptych,” as well as “Finlandia” and “Symphony No. 5” by Jean Sibelius.
Each work reflects a connection to homeland, drawing on musical traditions, national identity or the natural landscape. Together, they trace those connections from Revolutionary-era New England to Norway and Finland.
Opening the concert, Schuman’s “New England Triptych” reimagines three hymns by William Billings, an influential New England composer of the Revolutionary era. A 20th-Century American composer whose work often reflected on American culture, Schuman admired the “sinewy ruggedness, deep religiosity and patriotic fervor” of Billings’ music.
The final movement gives a spirited orchestral setting to a hymn that became a marching song of the Colonial Army, carrying the defiant spirit of its words into the concert hall.
Sibelius’ “Finlandia” follows, bringing another expression of national resolve. The piece grew out of a patriotic pageant in Helsinki in 1899, when Finland was still a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. Its hymn-like melody, familiar to many through “Be Still My Soul,” became a powerful expression of Finnish identity and hope.
After intermission, Leone will take the stage for Grieg’s piano concerto. The internationally touring pianist will perform one of the composer’s best-loved works, a concert repertoire staple celebrated for its memorable melodies and the interplay between soloist and orchestra.
The concerto’s final movement draws on rhythms reminiscent of the halling, a Norwegian folk dance, giving the music an energetic connection to the traditions of Grieg’s homeland.
The program concludes with Sibelius’ “Symphony No. 5,” whose finale evokes the migrating swans the composer observed near his home, Ainola. The expansive “swan theme” rises from the horns, bringing a sense of movement and grandeur to the final stretch of the symphony.
As the music develops, shifting orchestral gestures suggest the birds landing and gathering on the water. The theme returns in a powerful brass climax before the work reaches its distinctive conclusion: six emphatic chords separated by unusually long silences. Those pauses make the final moments as striking as the sound itself.
Saturday’s concert begins at 7:30 pm and the Sunday matinée at 2 pm at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W Olive Street. Tickets start at $45, with $10 student tickets available with identification. For more information or tickets, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.