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National Symphony Orchestra Performs US Premiere of Critical Edition of Alexander Zemlinsky's The Mermaid

Mar. 28, 2014

National Symphony Orchestra Performs US Premiere of Critical Edition of Alexander Zemlinsky's <em>The Mermaid</em>

On April 10, James Conlon leads the National Symphony Orchestra in the US premiere of the new critical edition of Alexander Zemlinsky’s fantasy for orchestra, Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid)—an epic of the early twentieth-century symphonic repertoire. The concert takes place at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., with additional performances on April 11 and 12.

The piece, seemingly dismissed by Zemlinsky as a failure and not rediscovered until 1976 in a private Viennese collection, has been a problematic piece to perform in recent years. Large portions of the score only existed in the composer’s own handwriting, which proved both difficult to decipher and tedious to maintain an updated list of errata on. Through the research of British musicologist and conductor Antony Beaumont, a critical edition is now available through Universal Edition, which received its premiere by the Dresdner Philharmonie in January 2013. The edition includes two versions of Part II of the piece: the composer’s original as well as an edited version.

Following the performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Conlon conducts the Canadian premiere of the revised edition with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal on April 30 and May 1. The performances take place at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal. 

For more information on Alexander Zemlinsky, please visit www.universaledition.com.

Details on the National Symphony Orchestra performance can be found at www.kennedy-center.org. 

Alexander Zemlinsky
Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (1903)
fantasy in three parts based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
for orchestra
edited by Antony Beaumont
4(1, 2.pic)-2.ca.Eb cl.2. bcl.3-6.3.; 5t4.btba-timp.2perc-2hp-str
45’

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