The Marine Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Director Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig, will perform the concert “Primary Colors,” celebrating “colors” in music, at 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 18 at Northern Virginia Community College’s Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, Va. The concert is free and no tickets are required. Free parking in the adjacent garage is also available.

“The genesis of this program began with two pieces that are inspired directly by color or colorful things: Jean Francaix’s Flower Clock and Adam Schoenberg’s brilliant realization of color in painting in his Finding Rothko,” Lt. Col. Fettig said.

Co-prinicpal oboe Staff Sgt. Trevor Mowry will perform the solo in Francaix’s L’Horloge de Flore (Flower Clock), a musical interpretation of the conceptual idea of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, known as the father of modern taxonomy. Linnaeus suggested creating a garden plan made up of flowers that opened or closed at specific times, creating a flower clock. Francaix took seven of the clock’s blooms and composed a descriptive piece based on each, making up the seven movements of the work. Thus, the movements include such flowers as the Galant de Jour (poison berry) which opens at 3 a.m., the Nyctanthe du Malabar (Malabar Jasmine) which opens at noon, and the Silène noctiflore (night-flowering catchfly) which opens at 9 p.m. Each movement is colorful and creative, capturing the beauty and uniqueness of each flower.

Up and coming American composer Schoenberg used the paintings of abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko for his work Finding Rothko. The piece consists of four movements, played without break, and each is named after the principal color of the painting which inspired Schoenberg: Orange, Yellow, Red, and Wine.

Rounding out the orchestra’s palette are two vibrant works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven that are as “primary” to the classical repertoire as red, yellow, and blue. The works include Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, K. 620 and Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67.  Beethoven’s symphony will get a replay on April 26 during the Young People’s Concert: Music History Mystery, when the famous theme from the symphony will be stolen right before the audience’s eyes. It will take all the detective skills of those present (especially the kids) to get it back.

Complete program

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