BBC Concert Orchestra and James McVinnie

Another chance to hear the BBC Concert Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing with organist James McVinnie at the 2021 BBC Proms in music by Rautavaara, Arvo Part, Philip Glass and ending with Samy Moussa's A Globe Itself Infolding.

Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, London in September.
Presented by Georgia Mann

Rautavaara's expansive Cantus Arcticus pairs field recordings of bird song with live orchestra; exciting and inventive organ virtuoso James McVinnie plays Philip Glass's hypnotic Mad Rush for solo organ, and joins the BBC CO for Canadian composer Samy Moussa's 2014 piece A Globe in itself Infolding. The chill-out vibe runs through two short pieces by Johann Johannsson; and envelop yourself in the warm atmosphere of Judith Weir's Still, Glowing.

Rautavaara Cantus Arcticus Op.61 for orchestra & taped bird song
Judith Weir Still, Glowing
Philip Glass Mad Rush*
Arvo Pärt Festina Lente for string orchestra and harp
Johann Johannsson Good Night Day
Messiaen La Joie de la grâce from Livre du Saint Sacrement
Johann Johannsson A Sparrow Alighted on Our Shoulder
Samy Moussa A Globe Itself Infolding *

James McVinnie (organ)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Anna-Maria Helsing (conductor)

James McVinnie is a chameleon among organists who has held titles at Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, yet also worked with Philip Glass and The National’s Bryce Dessner. In a Prom that explores the organ in a contemporary light, he navigates the time-warping oscillations of Philip Glass’s Minimalist Mad Rush, before giving the UK premiere of Samy Moussa’s A Globe Itself Infolding with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing.