Sunday, January 18, 2026 3:00 pm

Penn State Recital Hall

54 minutes, including intermission

Our storytelling season continues with performances of Coleridge-Taylor’s Noveletten Nos. 2 and 3, as well as Saint Saëns’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring Katherine Benson. We conclude with Brahms’s majestic Haydn variations. A thrilling blend of elegance, virtuosity, and orchestral brilliance awaits!

Concert Facts:

#1

Coleridge-Taylor composed his Four Noveletten at age 27, in 1902. Novelette No. 2 contrasts two dance-like sections, one in duple and one triple in an overall ABA form, while No. 3 features a solo violin, reflecting Coleridge-Taylor's passion for his own instrument.

#2

Saint-Saëns's Piano Concerto No. 2 was composed in 17 days! Anton Rubinstein was in Paris for a series of concerts in 1868 when he floated the idea of conducting a program with Saint-Saëns as the soloist. With only 3 weeks to turn this scheme into reality, Saint-Saëns was left with a mere 4 days to learn and memorize the solo part, and to rehearse with the orchestra. 

#3

Brahms's Haydn Variations was originally composed for two pianos—premiered by Brahms and Clara Schumann in Bonn—but scored later for orchestra by the composer. The theme itself is known as the "Saint Anthony Chorale"; Brahms found the melody in a collection of Haydn's wind partitas. That said, there's a bit of a mystery as to who wrote the theme, for in the nineteenth century publishers often attributed works by lesser-known composers to more famous composers as a means to increase sales. Thus, it remains unknown as to whether or not this theme was originally composed by Haydn; some sources suggest it was written by Iganz Pleyel, but this has not been definitively proven.