A closeup of two violin players side by side

Schoenberg & Williams

  • Classical Music
  • Sydney Symphony Orchestra
  • Utzon Room
  • Run time: 55 minutes, no interval Subject to change

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.

Transfigured Night is one of the great works of late Romantic chamber music.

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. 

Presented by Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Event details

Programme

Justin WILLIAMS Movement for Woodwind Quintet
SCHOENBERG Transfigured Night

Artist information

MUSICIANS OF THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Please note, the musicians featured in the photo above may not appear in this concert.

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Utzon Room

The Utzon Room is located on the Eastern side of the Opera House, in front of the Joan Sutherland Theatre. Best accessed through the Box Office Foyer or the Covered Concourse. All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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