Program Notes

Obsessed by the sea after a stormy sea-crossing, Debussy eventually wrote most of La Mer in Eastbourne, but it nevertheless ranks as one of the great pioneering works of the century - an impressionistic masterpiece that breaks new ground in rhythm and orchestral tone colour.

Respighi's beautiful Fountains of Rome is perhaps the greatest of his three Roman tone-poems, representing four of the Roman fountains and their mythological inhabitants at various times of day.

Ravel shows us in his famous Bolero how a simple "study in orchestration" can, when played well, excite any audience with its relentless melody, driving on to its cataclysmic ending.

The first half of this concert is devoted to American music. Bernstein's sparkling overture, Candide, contrasts with Barber's beautiful Adagio for Strings, used in many film scores.

Gershwins' Rhapsody in Blue remains one of the most successful fusions of jazz and classical styles. Similarly Copland manages brilliantly to mould Mexican music into a classical framework.

Stravinsky again shows a Russian folk-tale for Petrushka, the tale of the poor puppet at St Petersburg fair. Like La Mer, it breaks new ground and is a landmark in twentieth century music.

Our concert season opens with an exciting contemporary dance episode from the Opera 'Nixon in China' in which the US President performs a surreal and seductive foxtrot with the Chairman's wife. This is contrasted with Brahms's well-loved variations on a pilgrims's chorale attributed to Haydn.

Shostakovich's monumental 10th Symphony was written in 1953. The whirlwind scherzo is effectively a musical portrait of Stalin and Shostakovich's personal celebration of his demise.

Our Spring concert presents three challenging orchestral works by twentieth century English composers. Walton's energetic Prelude and Fugue was originally written for a wartime film of the Battle of Britain. Britten's violin concerto written in 1939 is rarely performed because of its enormous technical demands on the soloist. However, it remains one of Britten's greatest works of this period, the elegiac conclusion a prophecy of the conflict ahead. Vaughan William's turbulent, post-apocalyptic masterpiece written just after the Second World War took contemporary audiences by storm being performed over 100 times in its first year. The work received similar acclaim during the 1997 Proms Season.

We are delighted to welcome Garfield Jackson, of the internationally renowned Endellion Quartet, as viola soloist in Walton's beautiful and lyrical concerto. First performed by Paul Hindemith, this work, above all others, helped rekindle interest in the viola as a solo instrument.

As a major innovator and pioneer of twentieth century music, much of Charles Ives's music is still rarely performed due to its fiendish technical demands. Three Places in New England is one of his most colourful, tuneful and attractive works, at times gently atmospheric, at others discordantly clamorous. Don't miss the opportunity to hear this challenging music!

Written only a few years earlier, Tchaikovsky's brilliant 4th Symphony is one of the great romantic works of the 19th century.

It is apt that we open our concert season with music which is fundamentally optimistic, a glowing vision of hope for the new millennium. Messiaen's inspiring music is dominated by bold colours and unconventional rhythms and draws on his preoccupation with the natural world (particularly bird-song), ecstatic religious imagery and deep contemplation.

We welcome back a former Royal Borough Young Musicians' Competition Winner, Alexandra Wood, for a performance of Bruch's first violin concerto; for the fourth year running voted the most popular work by Classic FM listeners.

The lyrical and expansive 2nd Symphony represents Rachmaninov at the height of his creative powers, with characteristic sweeping melodies, exuberant Allegros and a central slow movement of unsurpassed beauty.

Copland's music has long provided a definitive musical language for cowboy film scores and his ballet music written in 1938 evokes powerful images of the American West and the excitement of pioneer life.

The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is a piano masterpiece and one of the most popular works in the repertoire.

Sibelius's much loved 5th Symphony is an undisputed masterpiece of the twentieth century.  His striving for increased fusion of musical form in this and other later works has greatly influenced many other composers.

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We open our concert season with music by two masters of orchestration, featuring two young soloists. Ravel's concerto, a technical tour de force for the soloist, is perhaps one of his most profound works.

Ravel's masterful arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures (originally a virtuoso piano work) depicts a succession of paintings by Hartmann, culminating in 'The Great Gate of Kiev' - a blaze of orchestral colour replete with pealing bells.

We also present Britten's moving Sinfonia da requiem, sadly his only large scale purely orchestral work.

Although Berlioz was composing so soon after the death of Beethoven, his music represented a leap forward in the art of orchestration, demonstrated in full in this brilliant, effervescent overture.

Britten's beautiful serenade for tenor, horn and strings presents images of light and dark sides of sleep. It is a great example of his mastery of setting English words to music.

The concert ends with the landmark symphony that has so preoccupied all composers since Beethoven.

Our summer concert presents a feast of orchestral showpieces. Britten's popular variations on Purcell's theme demonstrates all the versatility, vitality and textures of the orchestra.

Maxwell-Davies' Mavis is a deliciously witty, exuberant, camp and glitzy romp. A genuine tribute to the tackiness of the 'Strip' and the Liberace museum - you'll just love it!

The season ends with Holst's ever popular masterpiece encompassing the violence of Mars to Neptune's ethereal chorus reaching to silent infinity...

We welcome back Daniel Smith to perform the work famously featured in the film Shine.

Mahler regarded the Adagio of the 4th Symphony as one of his greatest achievements. The whole work evokes a child's view of the world and culminates in a vision of heaven.

Strauss' late romanticism and masterful use of the orchestra were a considerable influence on 20th century composers.

The programme includes a dazzling work for piano and Elgar's magnificent and heroic symphony.

Our concert series ends with four works noted for their melodic profusion and brilliant orchestral colours. From Mussorgsky's witches and tales from the Arabian Nights to selections from a great American songwriter, this is a programme of dazzling virtuosity and excitement.

The Firebird is one of Stravinsky's groundbreaking and electrifying ballet scores written for the impressario Diaghilev. Mendelssohn's popular light and lyrical violin concerto is followed by one of the most dramatic and deeply romantic of all symphonies.

Our Spring concert starts with Malcolm Arnold's dazzling, exuberant overture depicting Burns' famous poem. Dvorak's brilliant melodic writing, spontaneity and freshness are evident in all his orchestral works. The grand 'Organ' symphony got its name from the climactic and breathtaking organ entry in the finale - a real orchestral showpiece!

Join us for our 30th Birthday Celebration concert. The concert climaxes with Walton's spectacularly unorthodox and brilliantly paced depiction of the fall of Babylon - a work of tearing rhythmic energy and vitality written for a huge orchestra and chorus.