Events

BSYO Repertory Orchestra 

Randy Tracy, Repertory Orchestra Director 
Sue Logan, Repertory Winds Coach 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) 
Overture to The Marriage of Figaro 

Based on a French comedy of 1782, Mozart’s opera so horrified Louis XVI that he forbade its performance. Its savage lampooning of the aristocracy did not sit well in those years just before the French Revolution. Nevertheless, the operatic version was permitted in Vienna. The libretto toned down the savage mood of the play, and the Viennese aristocracy was somewhat more secure than that in Paris. The fact that the libretto was in Italian, a language not generally understood by the Austrian commoners, may also have been a factor. Thus, in May 1786, Mozart conducted the first performance of what many consider to be the finest opera ever written. 

The overture begins with a scurrying figure in the strings that quickly erupts into a brilliant theme for the full orchestra, complete with festive trumpets and timpani. Mozart originally created a slower middle section featuring a solo oboe but didn’t like the way this interlude diminished the energy and momentum of the music, and so ripped its page out of the score. One of Mozart’s most popular overtures and a frequent concert opener, the opera’s humor and ebullience are more than evident in this short prelude, despite none of its music actually coming from the opera. 

Programmed twice as often as any other Mozart overture, The Marriage of Figaro has opened seven Billings Symphony concerts, starting with its debut in April 1955 under the baton of Maestro Robert Staffanson. The above description is taken, in part, from former Symphony librarian Jeffrey M. Edgmond’s October 1988 program notes. 

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) 
Symphony No. 1 (Titan) 

Mahler finished his First Symphony in 1888, after working sporadically at it for several years, possibly as many as ten. The impetus for its completion seems to have been an unhappy love affair. It quotes from his 1884 song cycle, Songs of a Wayfarer, itself the result of an earlier unsuccessful romantic attachment. The composer conducted the first performance in Budapest in 1889. It met with a lukewarm reception, as did subsequent performances in Hamburg (1893) and Weimar (1894). For each of those performances, he made revisions, and with the continual honing, the symphony began to have some success in Berlin (1896) and Prague (1898). Mahler later remarked that the reason for this slow acceptance was that while Beethoven had been able to start as a sort of modified Haydn or Mozart, he himself had the misfortune of being Gustav Mahler from the very beginning. Certainly, his is one of the most original first symphonies in music! 

The Budapest program called the work a Symphonic Poem in two parts and five movements. For the Weimar performance, programmatic titles were added to the work as a whole and to the individual parts and movements. He called the entire symphony, Titan, after a novel by Jean Paul Richter (1763–1825), an author exceedingly popular among German Romantics. Titled “From the Days of Youth: Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces”, Part I’s movements were “Spring Without End,” “Blumine (A Chapter of Flowers)”, and “Under Full Sail.” Part II was “Human Comedy,” with movements “Stranded! (A Funeral March in Callot’s Style” and “From Inferno to Paradise.” Mahler removed the descriptive titles after just one performance, in keeping with his lifelong ambivalence about that sort of thing. He also dropped the “Blumine” movement. Its manuscript reappeared in the 1950s and is occasionally performed as part of the symphony or as an independent piece. 

Despite their suppression, the titles do give some indication of the character of the music. In the score, Mahler directs that the opening should be “like a sound of nature,” and it is easy to perceive it as the awakening of spring after winter. Birdcalls and distant fanfares create a mood of expectancy. The main theme of the movement is taken from the second of the Wayfarer songs, “I wandered through the fields this morning.” The second movement (originally the third) owes much to the Ländler-infused scherzo of his contemporary Anton Bruckner. The rustic dance of the first part gives way to a somewhat suave middle section.  

Mahler said the third movement funeral march was inspired by the etchings of Jacques Callot (1592–1635), an artist with a special flair for the grotesque, and also linked the movement to “The Hunter’s Funeral Procession,” a print by Moritz von Schwind (1804–1871). Known to all South German children of the day, the work depicts a hunter being carried to his grave by weeping animals (although the sincerity of their tears may be suspect), while other animals for a band to play the procession along. The movement begins with a dismal, minor-key transformation of the well-known round Frère Jacques, followed a little later by the village band music. In the middle section, another Wayfarer song is quoted, in which a spurned lover lies under a linden tree, letting its falling blossoms cover him like snow.  

After a return of the funeral march, the finale explodes, in the composer’s words, “like the sudden outburst of a deeply wounded heart.” (On another occasion, Mahler likened the transition to “a bold of lightning that rips from a black cloud.”) The movement’s introduction presents fragments that eventually coalesce into a violent theme, which is suspended after a bit by a broad, songful melody. When the violent music returns, it brings with it fragments from earlier movements and gradually transforms itself into a triumphant conclusion. 

The Billings Symphony performed Mahler’s First Symphony in 1968 and 2000. The “Blumine” movement and the Wayfarer songs were performed in 1990. The above notes were written by former librarian Jeffrey M. Edgmond for the 2000 performance. 

The concert will showcase 57 minutes of music and please note this concert will not have an intermission.

Whenever you want! Seriously, the tradition of clapping only at the end of pieces was only for a short time in the history of music. Typically, people like to clap after a great solo in a jazz tune, an impressive dance move, or after a great movement (section) in a symphony. If you really like a piece, clap at the end of the movement and yell "encore" if you want to hear more. (We love playing encores!)

Reserved Seating:

Tier 1 ticket - $69
Tier 2 ticket - $64
Tier 3 ticket - $54
Tier 4 ticket $39

Under 30/Student:

Tier 2 ticket - $38
Tier 3 ticket - $32
Tier 4 ticket - $20

*all ticket prices do not include box office fees

Tickets start at $39 for adults, $20 for under 30 and students, and go up to $69 based on the seat location. The least expensive seats are in the back of the balcony and in the front row closest to the stage.

Here are some other helpful tips you should keep in mind:

• Interested in additional savings? Buy a subscription! Contact us at 406-252-3610 or visit our offices at 2820 2nd Avenue North and we'd be more than happy to find the best deal for you. Subscriptions for our 2023–2024 season are available!
• If you’re a student, veteran, or active duty military, be sure to bring your student/VA/Military ID for great discounts!

Third party tickets are not accepted. All tickets must be purchased through the Alberta Bair Theater Box Office.

More than anything, we want you to have fun and express your own style when you come to the Billings Symphony, so dress in a way that works for you. Some people love dressing up and going out—if that’s you, do it and you won’t be the only one, we promise. If you prefer to be more casual, then you probably won’t be the only one dressed casually, either. In short, you do you, and we’re just glad you’re joining us.

On-Street Parking

On City streets, there is both metered parking and posted parking. Metered parking times range from 2 hours to 10 hours and is free after 5 pm and on weekends.

There are two free handicap parking spots on the corner of North Broadway in front of U.S. Bank.

Garages

Park 1
Credit/Debit Cards Only. Located at 2912 Third Avenue North and is open to the public 24-hours per day – the office is open Monday through Friday, from 10:30am-6:30pm. There is free parking on Sundays.

Park 2
Credit/Debit Cards Only. Located at 2651 First Avenue North, Park 2 is open to patrons 24-hours per day – the office is open from 7:15am – 11:00pm, Monday through Saturday.

Park 3
Accepts Cash. Located adjacent to City Hall at 210 North 27th Street and is open 7am-11pm – the office is open Monday through Friday from 10:30am – 6:30pm. There is free parking on Sundays.

Park 4
Located at 515 North 31st Street. The garage and office are open only Monday through Friday from 5:30am – 9:30pm. After 9:30pm, parkers are unable to remove their vehicles from the garage.