Mikhail Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture Context Composed between 1837-42, Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is based on Alexander Pushkin’s poem of the same name. Split into five acts, the opera’s libretto was written by Valerian Shirkov, Nestor Kukolnik and N.A. Markevich. Seldom performed as a full-scale opera today, Read more…
Carl Nielsen: Symphony No.2 ‘The Four Temperaments’ Context Carl Nielsen was born in 1865 on the island of Funen (the third-largest island that is a part of Denmark). The Nielsen family were incredibly poor, however, his parents were keen musicians, with his father playing cornet and his mother, a singer. Read more…
Philip Wilby: Paganini Variations Context Commissioned by the BBC in 1991 for their ‘Band of the Year’ event, Paganini Variations was first recorded by Grimethorpe Colliery Band in the same year. In recent years Paganini Variations has been set for the Championship section in the 2011 Brass Band Regional Contest. Read more…
Jean Sibelius: Scene with Cranes Context Jean Sibelius was born on 8th December 1865 in Hämeenlinna Finland. When he was ten years old, Sibelius was given a violin by his musical uncle, who soon became his musical tutor. Before studying music at university, Sibelius studied at the Imperial Alexander University, Read more…
Eric Whitacre: Sleep Context Composed in 2000 and premiered in 2001, Eric Whitacre’s popular choral work Sleep came from a very personal commission request. In 1999, Whitacre was approached by Julia Armstrong, a mezzo-soprano living in Texas. She proposed a commission for a new work from Whitacre to be performed Read more…
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus Context As an avid collector of English folksong, Vaughan Williams used a lot of throughout his career. As can be seen from a menagerie of his works from Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and In the Fen Country, Vaughan Read more…
Chen Yi: Ge Xu Context Chen Yi was born in Guanzhou, China in 1953. She was born into a talented family of both doctors and musicians, and so from a young age Yi began learning violin. Her siblings were known as child prodigies within musical performance, so Yi had a Read more…
Camille Saint-Saëns: Le Rouet d’Omphale Context Camille Saint-Saëns’ symphonic poem Le Rouet d’Omphale (‘Omphale’s Spinning Wheel) was his first in the genre. Originally composed as a piano work in 1871, Saint-Saëns orchestrated it for orchestra and it received its premiere in Paris 1872. At the start of the score Saint-Saëns Read more…
Richard Wagner: The Flying Dutchman Overture Context Plagued by high tides, crashing waves and dramatic twists and turns, Richard Wagner’s overture to his 1843 opera The Flying Dutchman remains a concert hall favourite. This drama-filled story of the Flying Dutchman reaching for redemption through the love of a faithful woman Read more…
Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour: Persian Echoes Context Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2006, Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour’s Persian Echoes for harp and orchestra was the first ever Iranian harp concerto. Persian Echoes brings together sounds from the East and West, incorporating traditional Persian music and folk melodies, with rich Western Read more…