Schoenberg & Williams
Radiance and invention
Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night is an intoxicating work. Influenced hugely by Brahms and Wagner in both the richness of the writing and the high drama of the narrative it depicts, it is one of the great works of late Romantic chamber music.
This concert is only available to purchase as an add-on to a 2025 Series Pack or as an inclusion in a Create Your Own Pack. Click here to browse our 2025 Season Packs. Single tickets go on sale 10am, Monday 2 December 2024.
Based on a work by German poet Richard Dehmel, it portrays an emotionally charged scene between two lovers; opening with an extraordinarily atmospheric section that draws us into the layered weight of night, before the finale draws the lovers together in ecstasy.
Sydney Symphony Assistant Principal Viola Justin Williams is also a composer of note, his output already including piano and chamber works and a symphony. His Wind Quintet receives its world premiere here, brought to life by his colleagues in the Orchestra’s wind section; the warm and mellifluous tones of these instruments will envelop you in a musical embrace.
‘See how brightly the universe gleams! There is a radiance in everything,’ says Dehmel’s protagonist – and there is certainly radiance here in this concert.
Program
Justin WILLIAMS Wind Quintet
SCHOENBERG Transfigured Night
Artists
MUSICIANS OF THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Please note, the musicians featured in the photo above may not appear in this concert.
Presenting Partner
