The Mid-Texas Symphony proudly presents the second concert of its 2014-2015 classical music season on October 26, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center on the Canyon High School campus in New Braunfels! David Mairs, Music Director and the talented musicians of the symphony present selections by Elgar: Enigma Variations and Mussorgsky, arr. Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition. Elgar’s best-known large-scale composition, Enigma Variations, is a set of fourteen variations on a hidden theme or “enigma” dedicated to his wife and “friends pictured within” as an affectionate portrayal of each. After its London premiere in 1899, the piece has remained internationally popular. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is based on drawings and water colors by favorite artist, Hartmann, of scenes in Poland, France and Italy. Maurice Ravel’s arrangement is the most popularly performed rendition of the music which creatively links in a way that illustrates a viewer’s own progress through the artist’s exhibition. Two "Promenade" movements act as gateways to the suite's main sections, musically creating the act of walking. Three shorter interludes present this theme, varying the “mood, color and key” in each suggesting the viewer’s reflection on a work just seen or the anticipation of viewing a new painting. The Promenade develops into a central element of the movement, and Mussorgsky finishes with a flourish of exaltation of the artwork itself. Tickets ($5-$30) are available through the Mid-Texas Symphony’s on-line ticketing system at www.mtsymphony.org or by calling 830-372-8089.