In the organizer's words:

Ralph Vaughan Williams:
Folk Songs of the Four Seasons

Joachim Raff:
Symphony No. 3 in F major op. 153 "In the Forest"

MDR Symphony Orchestra
MDR Children's Choir
Michael Francis | Conductor

Joachim Raff's Symphony No. 3 "Im Walde", composed in 1869, is one of the most successful and effective works of German Romanticism. Raff, a contemporary and friend of Liszt and Mendelssohn, unfolds a musical nature painting here - from the awakening forest in the morning to lively hunting scenes and a mysterious, mystical night piece in which fairies and nature spirits appear. Raff's masterful orchestration brings the forest to life in all its moods and timbres. Together with Ralph Vaughan Williams' grandiose "Folk Songs of the Four Seasons", the program conveys a fascinating panorama of compositional depictions of nature.