Proms interval talk: An Introduction to Elgar's First Symphony

In his First Symphony, unveiled in Manchester in 1911, Edward Elgar saw beyond the recession in which Britain was languishing to express a 'massive hope for the future'. The symphony's noble main tune appears fragile at first, but when it returns at the end, it's carried home by an ecstatic orchestra filled with a spirit of uplifting optimism. The BBC Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor also present the London premiere of a work by its Composer in Association, Mark Simpson, and the marriage of modernity and beauty that is Dutilleux's cello concerto 'Tout un monde lointain...'.