Symphonic 4 Concert 2

Yes, Zemlinsky’s The Mermaid was inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale and the music bubbles along with cheer and pathos. But there’s more to the story: Zemlinsky wrote the piece after suffering a heartbreak when his paramour left him for another composer, and the score was thought to be long lost. A pair of British music sleuths tracked down the work, however. The evening concludes with Brahms’ second piano concerto, which he described as a “very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo.”