Opening Night at Symphony

The title of Simon’s Tales: A Folklore Symphony, of which Motherboxx Connection is the opening movement, suggests ties to such earlier African American composers as William Dawson (e.g., his Negro Folk Symphony) and William Grant Still.

The Boston Pops began playing the piece regularly in 1929 with performances under Alfredo Casella, but the first BSO performance came much later, on August 9, 1974, at Tanglewood with Arthur Fiedler conducting.

Saint-Saëns wrote the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor in less than three weeks in 1868. It remains his most familiar entry in the genre.