TSO presents

Gustavo Gimeno, conductor
Jeffrey Beecher, double bass


Farrenc: Overture No. 1
Missy Mazzoli: Dark with Excessive Bright
Barbara Assiginaak: Innenohr / Biinjii'ii Tawgaang (Inner Ear / Inside Ear) (TSO Co-commission)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2

In 1802, on the brink of despair and suicide due to ever-increasing hearing loss, Beethoven poured out his feelings in a now-famous unsent letter to his brothers, confessing: “Only my art held me back. It seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt was within me.” From one of the darkest times of his life sprung some of his most life-affirming music—the jovial and fun-loving Symphony No. 2. Beethoven’s Second proved a fruitful muse for Odawa First Nation composer Barbara Assiginaak, whose Innenohr / Biinjii'ii Tawgaang meditates on the German master’s storied love of nature. Missy Mazzoli's evocative Dark with Excessive Bright also draws inspiration from the past, bringing baroque-era techniques into the 21st century through the skillful bow of Principal Double Bass Jeffrey Beecher.