Symphonie Concertante was originally presented by students of the School of American Ballet in a 1945 Carnegie Hall program entitled “Adventure in Ballet.” This large three-movement — Allegro maestoso, Andante, and Presto — work bears a very close relationship to its music. The two principal ballerina roles correspond to the solo instruments; one suggesting the violin part and the other, the viola. Balanchine noted that the ballerinas “do not represent the instruments in any literal sense; their dances are simply accompanied by the instruments. The ballerinas leave the stage when the violin and viola are silent, returning when the instruments are heard again.”

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), an Austrian, was one of the supreme musical geniuses of all time. He excelled in all forms of music, including opera, symphonies, concerti for various instruments, and chamber, vocal, piano, and choral music, leaving a legacy that is one of the greatest achievements in music. Mozart was considered by many to be the finest pianist, organist, and conductor in Europe. He was a famous child prodigy, and possessed a natural facility for music that is unsurpassed in the history of the art.