Spokane Symphony’s ‘Masterworks 2: Landscapes’ aims to ‘conjure a sense of place, and time, and atmosphere’

The Spokane Symphony’s second round of Masterworks performances will explore the concept of “landscapes” and the array of emotions they not only conjure, but communicate.

From the Nordic wilderness and the vast Scottish Highlands to the balmy heat of the Mediterranean, the four pieces found in the Saturday and Sunday repertoires transport concertgoers to places and times far from the modern-day Inland Northwest.

“I’m fascinated by the idea that music without words can really conjure a sense of place, and time, and atmosphere,” said James Lowe, the Spokane Symphony’s conductor and music director. “We can hear these things and know, instinctively, what the music is saying even though the music doesn’t have any words attached to it.”

“The Land of the Mountain and the Flood” takes the listener to Hamish MacCunn’s native Scotland and the wilds of the Highlands, one of the United Kingdom’s remaining natural strongholds to this day. The picturesque piece uses classic Scottish folk rhythms to paint a truly idealized picture of Scotland.

“The Highland of Scotland is still a pretty wild and untamed place,” Lowe said. “And when Hamish MacCunn was writing that piece that we open with, Scotland was really still seen as this almost magical place.”

One of Claude Debussy’s masterpieces, “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” is set in a dreamy, ethereal Mediterranean valley as a faun (who is half man, half goat) recalls his earlier encounters with nymphs. The hazy sense of atmosphere not only establishes that of a warm Mediterranean afternoon, but that of a character happily unsure of where fiction meets reality.

Narrowing down Debussy’s expansive collection of musical excellence is much easier said than done, but “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” may just be Lowe’s favorite, as well as one of his favorite pieces of all time.

“He makes real sounds happening in real time sound weightless … it is such a lush and beautiful moment,” Lowe said. “He creates these incredible atmospheres that are so evocative, but never quite resolve and you never quite know where you are, and I just find that really beautiful.”

The backstory of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s unique “Cantus Arcticus,” otherwise known as “Concerto for Birds and Orchestra,” begins with Rautavaara being commissioned to write a piece for the University of Oulu in Oulu, Finland, just south of the Arctic Circle. The region is a travel destination for a plethora of migratory birds, and Rautavaara found himself captivated by their constant chatter, so much so that recorded birdsong is incorporated into the piece.

The listener is engulfed by the siren songs of the seemingly endless migratory birds who spend summer calling the vast tundra home. Miles and miles of feathers and sheer sound sweep the barren landscape, taking the audience to an intricate and beautiful yet alien world mankind may never truly understand.

“It creates a very eerie and kind of alien landscape where humans just don’t really exist,” Lowe said. “It’s very hard for us to live in these places and so nature just has it entirely claimed for itself, and I think that, for a composer, is very inspiring.”

The second half of the performance will consist of notable excerpts from Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt,” which was composed for Henrik Ibsen’s play of the same name and named after the story’s protagonist. This protagonist finds himself in an array of strange adventures around the world, from the mountains of Norway to the deserts of Morocco, and the score simultaneously explores these diverse landscapes as well as the absurdities this Norwegian folk legend finds himself traversing.

Two local actors, Andrea Olsen and Paul Villabrille, will be assisting the symphony by narrating the story that also features some of the most recognizable pieces of classical music, including “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “Morning Mood.”

“The whole play lasts about two and a half to three hours, so what we’re doing is like an excerpted version, so you get the story running through and you get all the best bits of the music,” Lowe said. “It’s a super fun piece.”