What's On

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, under the baton of dynamic Welsh conductor Owain Arwel Hughes CBE, open the annual BSO Benevolent Fund Concert with Brahms’s lyrical Academic Festival Overture.

Jennifer Pike, former winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition and one of the most gifted of the younger generation of British artists, features as soloist in Sibelius’s exhilarating Violin Concerto.

A double helping of Tchaikovsky; the concert suite from his romantic ballet score Swan Lake, followed by the majestic 1812 Overture, brings the afternoon to a rousing conclusion.

All artists participating in this event are donating their services in aid of the BSO Benevolent Fund, which was founded in 1958 to help musicians in times of need.

Academic Festival Overture (with chorus)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Concert Suite from Swan Lake

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

1812 Overture (with chorus)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Summer music from the world’s leading classical saxophonist. John Harle is the most recorded saxophonist in the world, working with the greatest of musicians, his activities have taken him from the Last Night of the BBC Proms and the podium of the LSO to production on a number of chart-topping albums. John is performing the bewitching Saxophone Concerto by Glazunov, who was enthralled by the saxophone and called it a ‘new timbre’ in classical music. Also, Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs, a beautiful collection of short musical stories that communicate with an uncomplicated directness, but are structurally and harmonically sophisticated. Transcribed for saxophone and string orchestra by John Harle.

Donizetti and Schubert, both born in 1797, offer the charm, lyricism and vivacity of 18th century music. Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 is often said to resemble Mozart, reflected particularly in the lighter instrumentation. Stravinsky’s Pulcinella led him onto neo-classicism, inspired by 18th century music, which established his international reputation.

Concerto for Saxophone and Strings in E flat

Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936)

Pulcinella

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Concertino for Cor Anglais and Orchestra

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Children's Songs, transcribed for Saxophone and Strings

Chick Corea (1941-)

Symphony No 5 in B flat

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

This ideal summer evening programme opens with Mendelssohn’s entrancing Midsummer Night’s Dream music. It is followed by Mozart’s supremely beautiful Clarinet Concerto - and who better to play it than the superb young clarinettist Julian Bliss. Schubert’s deservedly popular 5th Symphony and two charming little suites by Bizet and Debussy complete the programme.

Overture, Nocturne and Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Jeux d'enfants, 'Children's Games'

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Symphony No 5 in B flat

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Petite Suite

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Brahms’s titanic concerto took a long time to find the final form that satisfied the composer. Stormy outer movements are separated by a slow movement of stillness and great beauty.

The Eroica symphony expanded both symphonic form and musical language in one astounding blow. The emotional heart of the piece is the famous funeral march, and it ends with a set of variations on a simple tune that overflows with musical imagination.

“In Dohnányi’s hands everything was scrupulously balanced, telling and beautiful, with marvellous playing from the Philharmonia” Financial Times

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 1 in D minor

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Symphony No 3 in E flat, 'Eroica'

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)