Around the time the Rochester Symphony Orchestra began in 1919 and 1920, major changes were taking place in the world of music.

“It was a historic crossroads,” said Jere Lantz, conductor of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. “The war had just ended. In Europe, empires were collapsing, countries were trying to rebuild themselves. Everyone was shocked.”

In the aftermath of World War I, music was also trying to find its place – either by moving forward and continuing the experimentation of the pre-war years, or by looking back nostalgically to a more stable time.

This is the preparatory work for the orchestra’s “1919” concert which will be presented on Saturday at the presentation hall of the Mayo Civic Center.

The concert will open with the Edward Elgar cello concert, featuring cellist Joseph Kuipers, a Rochester native who now lives in Texas.

This concerto, today one of the most admired in the repertoire, is first considered a failure.

Elgar wrote the concerto shortly after his wife’s death. His Romantic Era style is somewhat out of step with post-war music. “There’s nothing from the 20th century about it,” Lantz said. To complicate matters, the first concert of the concerto fell flat.

It wasn’t until 40 years later that astute conductors released the Mothball Concerto and Elgar’s great achievement was recognized. “It is the most expressive and romantic cello concerto of all time,” said Lantz. “It took me a while to figure it out and love it, but now I’m doing it.”

The second work in the concert, “La Création du Monde”, by French composer Darius Milhaud, plunges into the great post-war musical revolution: jazz.

“Milhaud was a pioneer, there is no doubt about it,” Lantz said. Milhaud first heard jazz in Paris, traveled to London to listen to an American jazz band, and then traveled to Harlem, New York, to listen to jazz in his hometown.

After that, Lantz said, “He decided to write a piece imagining how Harlem jazz musicians portrayed the creation of the world. It’s so fun, one of my favorite pieces of music by everyone. . “

Next comes Igor Stravinsky’s “Suite de l’oiseau de feu”, written in 1919, and rightly so. In fact, the sequel is a “best of” revision of the ballet “The Firebird” that Stravinsky wrote seven years earlier.

“It was a huge success,” Lantz said of the sequel.

Some orchestras, however, shudder at the thought of playing it, he said. “It’s harder than the flames,” Lantz said. “But it’s great. It’s a thrill.”

What: “1919” by the Rochester Symphony Orchestra

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Mayo Civic Center Presentation Hall, 30 Civic Center Drive SE

Tickets: $ 30 and $ 20 adults, $ 5 youth; at rochestersymphony.org and 507-286-8742

A free family concert will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday in the presentation hall. Reservations requested at 507-286-8742.