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Jan. 8

THEMES AND VARIATIONS

Symphony Joslyn

Joslyn Art Museum’s Witherspoon Hall,

2200 Dodge St

Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets: $33.

www.omahasymphony.org

Musical satire bubbles, spins and wheels in an English work whose inspiration was an earlier more lyrical composition by another Englishman. So sounds Benjamin Britten’s 1937 angular yet loving “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge.” Britten, born about 35 years after Bridge, studied with the  older man, but always choose to go in his own direction. Of course. Hence the new work struts with an angular march, dislocates the idea of a Viennese waltz and evokes a nervous fugue. Times change. Paired with it come more familiar variations, by Brahms, those circling around a theme attributed to Haydn, born ca 100 years prior. Schubert’s charming, Rossini-sparked 6th Symphony rounds out the pleasures. Welsh conductor Paul Watkins leads the Omaha Symphony


Subscribe to The Reader Newsletter

Our awesome email newsletter briefing tells you everything you need to know about what’s going on in Omaha. Delivered to your inbox every day at 11:00am.

Become a Supporting Member

Subscribe to thereader.com and become a supporting member to keep locally owned news alive. We need to pay writers, so you can read even more. We won’t waste your time, our news will focus, as it always has, on the stories other media miss and a cultural community — from arts to foods to local independent business — that defines us. Please support your locally-owned news media by becoming a member today.

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