BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers

Penny Gore presents a week with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers.
Surely you jest? A Beethoven-inspired concert with a difference from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Portuguese powerhouse conductor Joana Carneiro. The ‘Eroica’ symphony blew classical music sky-high and the Grosse Fuge still sounds modern after nearly 200 years. John Adams’ Absolute Jest – starring the Doric Quartet – absorbs musical artefacts, saluting Beethoven the way he would have wanted: with one enormous musical joke.
Followed by the BBC Singers and their Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin, who perform the world premiere of David Sawer’s work for choir and bassoon 'How Among the Frozen Words'. The perfect music for a winter’s afternoon, this piece came from a chapter in Rabelais’ novel Gargantua and Pantagruel. Whilst travelling towards the North Pole, Rabelais describes seeing letters of the alphabet frozen in the sky. Sawer's also inspired by Omyakon, a remote village in eastern Siberia which holds the record for the coldest place on earth. Also in the programme, repertoire by Edvard Grieg, Karin Rehnqvist, Kaija Saariaho and Matthias Skold.

2.00pm
Beethoven: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
John Adams: Absolute Jest for string quartet and orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 'Eroica'
Doric String Quartet
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Joana Carneiro, conductor

3.40pm
Karin Rehnqvist: HAYA!
Edvard Grieg: Ved Rondane, 12 Songs Op. 33 No. 9
Kaija Saariaho: Nuits adieux
Edvard Grieg: Ave Maris Stella
Mattias Skold: We Know Not Where The Dragons Fly
Edvard Grieg: Våren, 12 Songs Op. 33 No. 2
David Sawer: How Among the Frozen Words* - BBC COMMISSION WORLD PREMIERE

Jonathan Davies, bassoon*
BBC Singers
Sofi Jeannin, conductor