b'Program Notescontinuedlute pieces. While the first two suites are orchestrated for full orchestra, the third, which is on todays program, is restricted to only string instruments. This limited palette of orchestral timbres contributes to the darker colors of this suite and its more somber tone. Each suite of Ancient Airs and Dances has four movements, rather than the more typical five or six movements of the baroque dance suite. The first movement of Suite III is in a graceful, elegant character, with pizzicato in the strings that is reminiscent of the plucked instrument origins of the melody. The second movement is a collection of short airs by the late 16th-century Burgundian lute player Jean-Baptiste Besard. This movement begins and ends with the same sorrowful tune, framing a collection of light, rustic dances and a warmly expressive song. An anonymous siciliana melody, with its typical gently swaying rhythm, is the basis of the third movement. The music gradually increases in complexity and virtuosic intensity before returning to the intimacy of the opening. The last movement, Passacaglia, is surprisingly dramatic and forceful compared to the previous movements. Though based on a piece for baroque guitar by Italian composer Ludovico Roncalli, the rich string sonority of the last movement achieves a colossal sound more akin to that of a pipe organ than a guitar, providing a grand conclusion to the suite.InstrumentationStringsDuration19Alexander Boldachev (b. 1990)Triomphe de la MusiqueDedicated to the Foundation Banque Poplaire Composed 2018This is my own composition dedicated to Marc Chagall and based on his painting Triomphe de la Musique. This composition shows the main role of music in the world of art.Alexander BoldachevThe Triumph of Music mural hangs on the south side of the lobby ofthe Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with its companion mural, princetonsymphony.org/ 12'