By Nancy Plum

Princeton Symphony Orchestra brought three diverse compositional styles together this past weekend with a program linking music of the early 19th and 21st centuries and featuring one of this country’s most innovative and adventurous instrumental ensembles. Conducted by Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Orchestra presented Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, paired with works of American composers Carlos Simon and Viet Cuong. Joining the Orchestra in Saturday night’s concert (which was repeated Sunday afternoon) was So Percussion, a quartet of percussionists fresh off a Grammy award win and current Performers-in-Residence at Princeton University.

The four movements of Carlos Simon’s 2022 Four Black American Dances weaved dance and cultural identity into symphonic music, delving into significant and differing dance forms. The opening celebratory “Ring Shout” captured a religious ritual dating back centuries. Opening with spirited brass and wailing woodwinds, Princeton Symphony executed clean syncopation from strings and sliding effects from a trio of trumpets. Percussion played a key role in all four movements, with timpanist Jeremy Levine keeping rhythms precise.

Concertmaster Basia Danilow provided several quick-moving solo violin lines, especially contrasting a big band palette in the second movement “Waltz.” A quartet of trombones and tuba set a mysterious mood for the closing “Holy Dance,” as Milanov led the sound to a fervent clamor. Nimble cellos and double basses brought the work to a cinematic close, which the musicians drew out with effective drama.

Viet Cuong, whose educational background includes Princeton University, composed Re(new)al in 2018 as a concerto for percussion quartet and orchestra, and as a tribute to “renewable energy initiatives and the commitment to creating a new, better reality for us all.” Audience curiosity was piqued before the music started, as the stage was set up with tables of unusual xylophone instruments and glasses filled with various amounts of water. Audience members watched with rapt attention, perhaps wondering if the staging would be completed before water in the glasses started to evaporate, thus changing pitches.

The members of So Percussion — Jason Treuting, Adam Sliwinski, Josh Quillen, and Eric Cha-Beach — gathered around each of three groups of percussion instruments for the different movements of Cuong’s piece. The opening “Hydro” began with the So musicians demonstrating a sort of musical patty-cake with clinking water-filled glasses, answered by pianist Ruoting Li from a corner of the stage. The delicate tuneful passages became stately when taken up by the Orchestra, showing the power and grandeur of water.

“Hydro” was linked to the subsequent “Wind” with musicians blowing without pitch into their instruments as the So quartet moved to sets of drums and cymbals. Known for turning household items into inventive instruments, the percussionists derived rhythmic precision from a variety of drums, cymbals and cans of industrial strength duster spray, often while walking around one particular drum which all played simultaneously.

The final movement, “Solar,” opened with bells and grew to a slow sunrise with a lush string backdrop. The third table of percussion instruments included xylophones, crotales and a metal mixing bowl half full of water. The So musicians moved effortlessly among the instruments against the orchestral accompaniment, creating the overall effect of the sun heating up and sending out solar flares. As interpreted by the two ensembles, Cuong’s imaginative piece served as an imposing acknowledgement of the wonders of nature.

The “nature” theme continued with the evening’s final work. Beethoven subtitled Symphony No. 6 as “Pastoral,” depicting in five movements a leisurely trip to the countryside and gratitude for nature’s pleasures, despite a thunderstorm. Conducting from memory, Milanov took time in the opening phrases to establish a scene of people arriving for a festive event in the countryside. Finding charm in the music, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra players created an atmosphere of serenity, with a bit of fun and frolics, especially from bassoonist Brad Balliett.

The players became the “brook” portrayed in the second movement, expressing the gentle sway of water as Milanov maintained a graceful musical flow. Flutist Sooyun Kim, clarinetist Pascal Archer and oboist Lillian Copeland added elegant passages to complement strong bassoons. The Orchestra closed Beethoven’s Symphony with a return to serenity and reverence emphasizing well the composer’s intended connection between music and the natural world. As Princeton Symphony Orchestra continues to commemorate Milanov’s milestone birthday, Saturday night’s concert was both celebratory and in keeping with the ensemble’s commitment to high quality performance and introducing audiences to new music.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present the final concerts of the 2024-25 Classical series on Saturday, May 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 11 at 4 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Conducted by Rossen Milanov, these performances feature music of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff, with guest artists Westminster Symphonic Choir and pianist Natasha Paremski. Ticket information can be obtained by visiting princetonsymphony.org.