The Cape Symphony Orchestra presents The Planets at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center on September 26, 2026 at 4:00 PM and September 27, 2026 at 3:00 PM.
Ticketholders are invited to a discussion of the concert program led by scholar and retired Cape Symphony bass trombonist George Scharr one hour before each performance.

Download a printable version of these Program Notes.

THE CAPE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Music Director Alyssa Wang, Conductor

This roster lists the musicians performing today’s concert, and is subject to change. The official Cape Symphony Orchestra roster, including recognition of our musician chair supporters, is here.

NEPTUNE, THE MYSTIC  CHORUS

CONCERT PROGRAM

KAIJA SAARIAHO (1952–2023)
Asteroid 4179: Toutatis

SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19
Nathan Olson, Soloist

Andantino
Scherzo: Vivacissimo
Moderato

INTERMISSION (20 minutes)

GUSTAV HOLST (1874–1934)
The Planets

Mars, the Bringer of War
Venus, the Bringer of Peace
Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
Uranus, the Magician
Neptune, the Mystic 

ABOUT TODAY'S PROGRAM

The three works on our concert program share a fascination with forces larger than any one human. Written under the specter of war, Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Gustav Holst’s The Planets emerged from a Europe undergoing extraordinary upheaval. Nearly 90 years later, Kaija Saariaho’s Asteroid 4179: Toutatis looks outward from a world in which space is no longer the realm of myth alone, but a place we can observe, measure, and explore.

All three composers use the orchestra to express something beyond ordinary human scale: the unpredictable movement of an asteroid, the emotional range of a solo violin, character traits fancifully associated with the planets.

This program invites us to imagine worlds beyond the everyday, then brings them right to our hearts.

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho was already internationally acclaimed when she wrote Asteroid 4179: Toutatis. The piece was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, which premiered it in 2006 as part of a large orchestral project centered on Holst’s The Planets.

“I first become interested in Toutatis when reading that it is the asteroid whose orbit passes closest to Earth,” she wrote. “I started to find its unusual shape and complex rotation interesting… The stars viewed from Toutatis wouldn’t repeatedly follow circular paths, but would crisscross the sky, never following the same path twice.”

The music creates the sensation of something distant, elusive, and constantly shifting. Sounds appear, transform, and disappear; shifting patterns evoke spinning, turning, and tumbling. Intensity builds as Toutatis nears, and flares as it whizzes by. Disappearing into the endless void, we’re left in silence once again.

Sergei Prokofiev began his First Violin Concerto in 1915, in his mid-20s and already known as one of Russia's most audacious young composers. He completed it in 1917, as Russia was being transformed by the Bolshevik Revolution. The concerto would not be premiered until 1923, in Paris. It was not an instant triumph; audiences expecting something aggressively modern seemed puzzled by its lyrical character. Over time, though, the concerto has proved one of Prokofiev’s most enduring works.

Cape Symphony is honored to welcome Nathan Olson as our soloist for today’s performance. “Prokofiev’s First Concerto has held a special place in my heart since I first learned it in school,” he says. “It is a uniquely creative and beautiful piece, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to present it to the Cape Symphony audience.”

For listeners expecting a duel between soloist and orchestra, Prokofiev offers something different from the outset, with a melody that seems almost dreamlike. “Somewhat unusually for Prokofiev, the predominant mood of his First Concerto is lyrical and romantic,” says Nathan Olson. “In certain sections, we feel we are witness to the composer’s stream of consciousness, as in the opening theme presented by the solo violin, over hushed tremolos in the strings. This intoxicatingly lyrical theme, seemingly improvised in the moment, is in fact the soul of the piece. It returns in different textures at the close of the first movement, as well as the very end of the work.”

The second movement is a startling contrast: fast, sharp, and playful. “This is Prokofiev at his most mischievous,” says Nathan. “Featuring some devilishly difficult violin writing, this movement provides needed sardonic contrast to the sweeter, quieter outer movements.”

The finale returns us to a lyrical world. Says Nathan Olson: “The third movement is essentially through-composed, without any obvious overarching structure. We venture tentatively through a few different atmospheres, reaching a low point halfway through. A slow and enormous buildup follows, the solo violin hypnotizing with trills and expansive scales up and down the instrument. The strain slowly builds, and just as it becomes too much to bear, the tension suddenly dissipates into… bliss. We now hear the final version of the opening theme, an enchantingly peaceful duet between flute and solo violin.

“I love the pairing of this magical piece with Holst’s The Planets; large portions of the Prokofiev sound like they come from a different world. The end of the piece feels like we are floating through outer space, communing with whatever wisdom lies beyond.”

INTERMISSION

Your Cape Symphony Orchestra will now perform English composer Gustav Holst’s most inventive, beloved, and famous work. “The Planets is enormous in every way,” says Music Director Alyssa Wang, “from its huge orchestration—including two tubas, a bass oboe, two timpani, and an expansive brass section—to the women’s chorus that emerges in the final movement. It’s thrilling, powerful, and unmistakably cinematic.”

Holst was a person of broad extra-musical interests. A fascination with astrology inspired The Planets, a seven-part tone poem in which each movement portrays the mythological character of one of the planets. He began composing the piece in 1914, with Europe on the brink of catastrophe, and completed it during the First World War. While it is tempting to hear the opening movement as a reaction to the war—its ominous rhythm and relentless brutality feel prophetic in hindsight—“Mars” was actually completed before Britain entered the conflict.

The first private performance of The Planets took place in London in 1918; its first complete public performance followed in 1920. People loved it, bringing Holst a very uncomfortable fame. Though he didn't enjoy the spotlight, Holst recorded The Planets with the London Symphony Orchestra, making him one of the first major composers to leave recordings of his own music.

The movements of The Planets are arranged according to their dramatic relationships, rather than in astronomical order. The result is one of the great orchestral journeys of the 20th century: "Mars, the Bringer of War" advances with a mechanical menace that Star Wars fans are sure to recognize. "Venus, the Bringer of Peace" offers an almost startlingly gentle response. "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" darts by in a delightful blur, while "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” is some of Holst's most expansive and generous music. The mood darkens again with "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age," whose slow procession has often been heard as a meditation on mortality. "Uranus, the Magician" brings swagger and eccentricity, and finally, "Neptune, the Mystic" seems to dissolve the boundaries of the orchestra itself, with a wordless women's chorus fading into the distance.

Thank you for attending today’s concert.  We hope you enjoyed it and that we’ll see you again soon. 

BEHIND THE SCENES

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director of Operations
Patrick Gallagher

Stage Manager
Kimberly Monteiro

Assistant Stage Manager
Brendan Gallagher

Stage Crew
Jay Ivanof
John Bishop

Audio Engineer
Jay Sheehan

Lighting Designer
Kendra Murphy

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Joseph Marchio

BOX OFFICE
Rebeka Broitman, Supervisor
Eleanor Fothergill

HOSPITALITY COORDINATOR
Charlotte Baxter

LIBRARIAN
Victoria Bullock

PERSONNEL MANAGER
Wesley Hopper

USHER SUPERVISOR
Betty Morse

Cape Arts & Entertainment Staff and Board of Trustees

The Cape Symphony Orchestra’s Classical series concerts are sponsored by Cape Cod 5.
 

SUPPORT YOUR CAPE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Ticket sales cover only part of the cost to maintain a professional orchestra on Cape Cod. Generous donations and community support make the difference.

Donating is easy, online at www.capesymphony.org/donations or by mail to Cape Symphony, 2235 Iyannough Road, West Barnstable, MA 02668. For more information about ways to support Cape Symphony, please contact Director of Development This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you!

Program Notes by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ©Cape Arts & Entertainment. References include: Classical Music: The Rough Guide; B. Grun, The Timetables of History; N. Olson, pers. comm.; saariaho.org; W. Thompson, The Illustrated History of the Great Composers; A. Wang, pers. comm.