Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

Showing off the power and majesty of “the king of instruments,” Bradley Hunter Welch is at the Lay Family Concert Organ where the DSO, led by Fabio Luisi, performs Saint-Saëns’s grand Romantic “Organ Symphony.” The composer told the commissioning body that it “will be terrifying, I warn you.” But do not be afraid; you’ll be safely guided to the blazing C Major chord that sets the last movement in motion.

Also featured on this program are pieces written by SMU professor and composer Xi Wang, and DSO Composer-in-Residence Sophia Jani. In Xi’s work the unusual instrument pairing of the trumpet and violin in YEAR 2020 reflects the work’s inspiration from the tumultuous and unprecedented world created in the wake of the global pandemic.