American Symphony Orchestra: Human Elements

Sanguine – Choleric – Melancholic – Phlegmatic… Around 400 BCE, Hippocrates named the "four temperaments" that mirrored the four elements of nature and determined human personality and behavior. Leon Botstein and the Orchestra present four musical impressions of these Human Elements, spanning 132 years. From Johann Strauss Sr.’s Viennese waltz of 1832 to Carl Nielsen’s Four Temperaments Symphony of 1902; from Paul Hindemith’s Variations of 1940, to Frank Martin’s 1964 The Four Elements, experience how this ancient theory of character inspired this wide spectrum of composers.