Britten and Holst meet the American Songbook

The BBC Concert Orchestra performs an afternoon of music chosen by its Conductor Laureate, Barry Wordsworth presented by BBC Radio 3’s Ian Skelly and joined by the powerful voice of Susan Bullock.

With Barry Wordsworth’s appreciation for English composer Holst, the orchestra perform A Somerset Rhapsody and Japanese Suite side by side with Britten’s music including The Salley Gardens and O Waly, Waly, an arrangement of English folk song The Water is Wide.

The second half nods to the American Songbook, linking Britten to his close friend Aaron Copland with Copland's Rodeo and El Salón México. Music by Sondheim, Kern and Hammerstein completes this enchanting programme.