Super/Natural: The Sorcerer's Apprentice & Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

Enrique Diemecke, music director & conductor
Juan Riveros, harp

Paul Dukas, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice 
Claude Debussy, Danses sacrée et profane (Sacred and Profane Dances) 
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F Major, op. 68 (Pastoral Symphony) 

Debussy’s Sacred and Profane Dances is one of the most frequently played and best-loved pieces for harp, and Juan Riveros will breathe new life into this staple of any harpist’s repertoire. Performed alongside Dukas’s whimsical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the program pairs the sacred and supernatural with the inspiration of the natural world. Prepare to embrace a transformation—like that of springtime — that will leave you nostalgic and invigorated.

Where have I heard this before?  

If you had flashbacks of dancing mops and buckets and Mickey mouse in a wizard’s cap, you are on the right track! The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was made especially popular in Disney’s 1940 animated concert film, Fantasia.

The same film used Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, adding a Greco-Roman mythological component, including centaurs, a celebration for the god Bacchus, and a storm created by an enraged Zeus.