- Ever wondered what goes on in the minds of composers like Beethoven, Mozart or Tchaikovsky?

Florida Orchestra Music Director, Michael Francis, has answers.

He created a concert experience that explains the life and times of great composers.

Listen closely as the maestro takes us "Inside the Music."

(classical music) - The "Inside the Music" series is really something that we feel very passionate about at the Florida Orchestra because it gives us a chance to really break down any fear of this music.

We want to make sure that there's no limit to appreciation and understanding.

(classical music) What I try to do is just provide a gateway so that people can have this personal, proactive listening experience.

Because the composers went through all the same things we went through.

Danger and love and life and loss and all these qualities.

And suddenly then, this music erupts, and it's a march like you've never heard before.

This is a march in five four.

That's left, right, right, left, right.

I'm not a military man, but I know that's awkward.

Gustav Holst, the English composer, wrote "The Planets" in 1914 and he finished it in 1919.

So it really spanned World War I, this tumultuous period in European history.

(classical music) So he represents seven of the planets in this large suite for a very large orchestra.

I think there's 130 musicians and singers involved in this epic saga.

Within this suite of music, each planet has its own individual character.

(classical music) Mars is the bringer of war.

This idea of what we're all capable of, the danger within us for destruction.

Venus is the bringer of peace, and this is much more sensuous music.

It's much more about the higher instruments.

It's a real antidote to this shocking brutality of Mars.

Well, Mercury's the winged messenger, and this was really Holst's personal star sign.

It's more about being nimble and fleeting and fast-moving and this idea of information flying around.

It's much more skittish and much more playful.

(classical music) Jupiter, the bringer of jollity, to me, this music feels much more about England.

You feel this national style, you feel the folk music, it has a feeling of celebration.

Saturn is the bringer of old age and this was Holst's favorite movement.

He had a lot of physical health conditions and I think for him, fear of death was something that he lived with on a daily basis.

Uranus, The Magician, well, this is based upon Holst's own name that he wrote into the fabric of the music.

So he is almost imagining himself as the puppet master that taps into this idea of the populous style of music.

(classical music) And finally, Neptune, the Mystic.

If we began with the physical, now we end with the metaphysical.

This cold, distant music that seems to call us into another realm.

And at the end of it you hear the sirens calling you, distantly into space.

These voices that appear off stage that cannot be seen but can be heard, and above all, can be felt.

(classical music) Because ultimately, it's about the seven planets, helping us to live on the one planet that's not mentioned, Planet Earth, and how we interact with each other and how each of the characters which he represents in an astrological way represent the different aspects of our psyche.

(classical music) - The "Inside the Music" concert model is really an interesting one.

It draws in many different types of audience members purely because of its format.

To have Michael Francis be your tour guide during a piece like "The Planets," you are able to sit as an audience member and you're able to meet Michael and the orchestra halfway.

- And in this movement you hear an awful lot of Dukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice" as well, which was written about 20 years before this.

- I think the model and the format and the way that it engages our community members and creates these access points for everyone, that's really what brings in folks from all corners of our community.

It's beautiful.

(classical music) - He helps put the music into context, so you're kind of understanding where it's coming from and the history and everything, so you feel more connected.

- I was sitting there and I was thinking, "I love this better than probably what the show is gonna be," just 'cause he brings so much to it, with his story, the way his humor, everything.

It was phenomenal.

- These "Inside the Music" concerts are magical.

I'm a huge classical music fan, but hearing Michael Francis talk about the layers, the context, everything going on, and with his impish sense of humor, it's a real treat.

- A lot of the work that we do in education and community outreach at the Florida Orchestra is directly related to the fundamental philosophy of what happens on stage.

So some of the programs that facilitate that, in the early stages, we have Strings for Kids, which is a free afterschool program for a lot of our communities that wouldn't have access.

In the middle school, we have Teaching Artists program, where we send out musicians who perform with the orchestra, but they also split half their time going into schools and working directly with hundreds and hundreds of kids every week.

And then we have our youth concerts.

So we see upwards of 6,000 kids a week, who come and experience a mini version of "Inside the Music."

The idea is to meet the community where they are, and to provide programming to them that will only enhance the depth of what it is music has to offer everyone.

- "Inside the Music" allows us to open this gateway of understanding, so that when you come to the music, you have an intellectual appreciation and emotional understanding of the narrative, and perhaps you learn something new about this masterful art form or orchestral classical music.

(classical music) This orchestra is the perfect example of human interaction.

So to celebrate that with music, which brings people together, which helps you understand your own life.

I have the most wonderful job, and the word "maestro" means teacher.

So anything I can do to share that with people is the great privilege of my life.

(classical music) - [Speaker] For more information, visit FloridaOrchestra.org.