BBC Philharmonic - Elgar, Brahms

From Westmorland Hall, Kendal
Presented by Tom Redmond

Elgar: Violin Concerto

Music Interval

8.35
Brahms: Symphony No 1

Tasmin Little (violin)
BBC Philharmonic
Michael Seal (conductor)

Brahms declared he would never write a symphony, so strongly did he feel Beethoven looking over his shoulder; however, despite his uncertainty about measuring up, his First Symphony was eventually born when Brahms was in his early forties and the the gripping opening, intermezzo-like middle movements and rays of golden light which spread through the Finale add up to a positive and satisfying whole. Tasmin Little joins the orchestra for Elgar's Violin Concerto which opens the programme. This is a piece that Elgar himself loved and the lyricism and vitality of the music speak as clearly today as when it received its enormously successful premiere.