Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in D minor

Linton Stephens brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making which includes a spotlight on the relationship between music and spirituality. To begin, Vaughan Williams' evocative Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis based on a 16th-century Anglican psalmody is performed by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, guitarist Thibaut Garcia plays Mangore's melancholic La Catedral, and later in the programme, Handel's Organ Concerto in F is performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

As a centre piece, Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in D minor is played by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. As a devout Catholic, Bruckner dedicated this final, unfinished work "to the beloved God". There are also excerpts from a concert by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in which Haydn’s Seven Last Words on the Cross is interspersed with Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, juxtaposing Christ’s suffering with human grief and suggesting that art and religion may confer spiritual meaning on life.

Elsewhere in the programme, there is chamber music recorded at the Crucible, Sheffield. Cellist Li-Wei Qin and pianist Jeremy Young join forces to play Brahms and piano duo Ivana Gavric and Tim Horton play Debussy.

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Duncan Ward (conductor)

Johannes Brahms
Sonata in E minor Op.38
Li-Wei Qin (cello)
Jeremy Young (piano)

Gustav Mahler
Kindertotenlieder: Nun seh' ich wohl, warum
Johan Reuter (bass-baritone)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Hossein Pishkar, (conductor)

Agustin Barrios Mangore
La Catedral
Thibaut Garcia (guitar)

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 9 in D minor
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt (conductor)

Claude Debussy
En blanc et noir
Ivana Gavric (piano)
Tim Horton (piano)

Joseph Haydn
Seven Last Words on the Cross: 3. Sonata 2: Grave e cantabile
Johan Reuter (bass-baritone)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Hossein Pishkar, (conductor)

Joseph Haydn
Seven Last Words on the Cross: 4. Sonata 3: Grave
Johan Reuter (bass-baritone)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Hossein Pishkar, (conductor)

George Frideric Handel
Organ Concerto in F, op. 4/4, HWV 292.
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Marie Jacquot (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live"