The Hartt School presents the Hartt Symphony Orchestra on Friday, November 6, at 7:30 PM in Millard Auditorium, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. Christopher Zimmerman leads the orchestra with works by Purcell, Berg, Webern, and Mozart. Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups. Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

The program presents in a stark and dramatic fashion the huge differences in musical language which are nevertheless held together by a common thread. The concert takes the audience from the music of the early Baroque to Henry Purcell, through classical Mozart to the cliff's edge of tonality of Webern, and then finally to the 12 tone system of Berg.

Christopher Zimmerman, conductor, says, "The Purcell work is a simple Chaconne the harmonic and structural layout of which is taken up by Webern in his "Passacaglia". Berg extends Webern's language even further, but still pays homage to the past by incorporating verbatim another Baroque composer's music at the end of his work--the Bach chorale "es ist genug". Furthermore, the Webern piece is his opus 1 and sounds more dissonant than the Berg piece which is his last and which sounds almost like a romantic concerto even though it is based on a 12 tone row!"

Zimmerman continues, "Everyone is experimenting and borrowing from everyone else and yet all these works are richly expressive and fiercely original. Yes, even the Mozart, which has its own fair share of surprising dissonance (opening introduction) and funky harmonies (2nd movement)."