Austin Peay State University’s Gateway Chamber Orchestra presents “Pastoral Soundscapes” Concert on January 30th

Clarksville, TN – In the late 1850s, the German composer Johannes Brahms was taking a stroll through the Bavarian countryside when he was suddenly struck by the lush green hills and snow-covered Alps surrounding him. He wanted to recreate the immense beauty of this land through music, so he set to work composing a short symphony serenade for nine players, using the unique folk rhythms and melodies of the area.

“It was beautiful music, drawn from his surroundings,” Dr. Gregory Wolynec, APSU associate professor of music, said.

The work, known as Brahms’ Serenade No. 1, is typically performed by a full orchestra, but at 7:30pm on January 30th, APSU’s Grammy-nominated Gateway Chamber Orchestra will present the work as the composer originally conceived it.

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APSU Concert to Examine Musical Influence of the Holocaust

Clarksville, TN – In the early 1940s, during World War II, many of Europe’s most prominent Jewish musicians boarded trains destined for the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

German propaganda described the city’s small fortress as a camp with a “rich cultural life,” but when the new inmates arrived, hope quickly faded. Their beloved instruments were replaced by workers’ tools, and they toiled endlessly each day as slave laborers for Hitler’s Third Reich.

But for a few minutes one morning in 1943, all that changed. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners gathered that day inside the camp and started singing Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem” – a powerful, somber piece of music. They’d rehearsed for weeks before hand, memorizing the complex work without the help of books or sheet music. [Read more]