South Bend Symphony Orchestra premieres new work, performs Mahler's Symphony No. 5

Cheryl Morey, South Bend Tribune
·1 min read
Shown performing Sept. 30, 2023, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra presents “Discover Mahler’s Symphony No. 5” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
Shown performing Sept. 30, 2023, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra presents “Discover Mahler’s Symphony No. 5” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Alastair Willis present “Discover Mahler’s Symphony No. 5” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Morris Performing Arts Center, 211 N. Michigan St.

The concert opens with Michael Schelle’s “The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse,” the winner of the 2022-23 Season’s Crossroads of America Composer Competition.

The South Bend Symphony Orchestra performs Michael Schelle’s “The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend. The piece won the 2022-23 Season’s Crossroads of America Composer Competition and was commissioned by the SBSO.
The South Bend Symphony Orchestra performs Michael Schelle’s “The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend. The piece won the 2022-23 Season’s Crossroads of America Composer Competition and was commissioned by the SBSO.

Commissioned by the SBSO, the work incorporates evocative allusions to five iconic No. 5 Symphonies: Mahler 5, Tchaikovsky 5, Shostakovich 5, Bruckner 5, and Sibelius 5.

In a press release, Schelle explained that he saw the commission as “a unique opportunity to embrace South Bend football history (the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, 1923-24) as fused with the abstract concept of ‘five’ — irregular meters, intervallic structures, duration (my piece is ten minutes = two x five) and miniature combustible quotation collisions of five famous fifth symphonies.”

Shown performing Sept. 30, 2023, Music Director Alastair Willis and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra present “Discover Mahler’s Symphony No. 5” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.
Shown performing Sept. 30, 2023, Music Director Alastair Willis and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra present “Discover Mahler’s Symphony No. 5” on Feb. 10, 2024, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend.

Willis said in the release that in its “colossal journey from struggle to triumph,” Mahler’s fifth symphony contains “profound sadness, deep soul-searching, ecstatic joy, and the tenderest love.”

Willis’ pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $79-$19.

For more information, call 574-235-9190 or visit morriscenter.org and southbendsymphony.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: SBSO premieres new work, performs Mahler's Symphony No. 5