The Laredo Philharmonic performs A Chaplin Symphony live to film conducted by music director Brendan Townsend.

• For more information about the orchestra, click here.

• For more information about the Chaplin Symphony, click here.

A Chaplin Symphony serves as both a companion in live performance to Chaplin’s City Lights and as a concert symphony. The work is in three movements, and consists of several themes and motives developed and intertwined in the fashion beloved of every working opera composer—there’s a tender pavane for the Flower Girl, of course; a bittersweet shuffle for the Tramp, a sexy, dissolute tango for the Plutocrat, and so forth. But the interplay of musical ideas is more akin to the way Strauss manipulated the ideas in the Symphonia Domestica. As Strauss wove in themes from his earlier works to provide context, autobiographical clues, and narrative depth, I wove together the strands of themes from my previous Chaplin scores with the new ones specific to this one.

Texas A&M University (TAMIU) Recital Hall, 5201 University Blvd, and the concert is Sunday 20th at 3pm.