Our programme explores the expression of contrasting moods. En Saga was Sibelius’ first major tone poem. In spite of its title (‘A Story’) it is an abstract piece depicting the feelings inspired by the Finnish landscape. Variations on a Theme by Haydn is also a rather misleading title, as the St Anthony Chorale tune on which Brahms based the work later turned out not to have been composed by Haydn — but its unique character is the basis for a set of variations exploring a wide variety of moods and colours. Danish composer Nielsen’s Second Symphony is subtitled The Four [...]

Our Czech programme opens with the fourth of Smetana’s cycle of patriotic tone poems, Má Vlast. From Bohemia’s Forests and Meadows conjures up the feelings inspired by the Czech landscape, from the grandeur of great forests to the exuberance of village festivals. Viola player Laura Sinnerton joins the orchestra for Martinů’s melodic Rhapsody Concerto. Martinůe migrated to the USA in 1941 and the many Moravian folk tunes he employs express his longing for his native Czechoslovakia. Dvořák’s carefree Eighth Symphony is steeped in the atmosphere of the Czech countryside and features hunting horns, bird calls and lively folk tunes. Along [...]

‘Winter Wonderland’ Bath Symphony Orchestra presents a programme of winter themed music for all the family.  Drawing from fairy tale operas, ballet and film music we will present music portraying, amongst others, a wicked witch with a gingerbread house, a fictitious military officer on a fast winter’s journey with a traditional Russian three-horse sled, and the most evocative musical Christmas character of them all—the Sugar Plum Fairy! Add in musical evocations of winter landscapes and sleigh rides and we promise you a perfect winter afternoon’s musical entertainment.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture features tunes based on Russian Orthodox chants, and the mood ranges from solemnity to exuberant celebration.  The Firebird is one of Stravinsky’s early ballets, retelling an ancient Russian folk tale in which we meet a villainous ogre, imprisoned princesses and the magical Firebird.  The gorgeous melodies and colourful orchestration remind us that Stravinsky was one of Rimsky-Korsakov’s pupils.  The Symphonic Dances was Rachmaninov’s final composition, and his continuing obsession with the Dies Irae chant and Russian church music conveys his sense of impending doom.  The brilliant scoring includes a piano, alto saxophone and large percussion section.  A succession of lyrical melodies, a waltz [...]

The Piano Concerto in A minor was Grieg’s only large-scale orchestral work, but is so well known and loved as to need no introduction and remains one of the most popular piano concertos ever written.  We welcome Bath-based pianist Nicola Meecham as our soloist. Norwegian Johan Halvorsen was a violinist, conductor and composer of theatre music.  He was a great friend and admirer of Grieg’s and was married to the older composer’s niece.  His music follows the Romantic tradition of Grieg and his orchestral experience allowed him to develop an innovative instrumental style.  He did not write his three symphonies until [...]

We are delighted to welcome Maxim Calver (2018 BBC Young Musician finalist) for a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1.  Written for the composer’s friend, Rostropovich, it is one of the most significant and challenging concertos of the 20th century.  Mahler’s mighty Fifth Symphony includes the famous Adagietto, used in the film Death in Venice, alongside a bleak funeral march, a manic scherzo and a hymn of hope.  Mahler wrote that a symphony ‘must embrace everything’ and here we run the gamut of emotions from deep tragedy to joyful exuberance.   Our soloist Maxim Calver made his concerto debut [...]

Our Spring programme has an operatic theme, opening with the Prelude to Wagner’s only comic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.  The Prelude introduces us to the noble Hans Sachs and the guild of master-singers, romantic Walther who sings his Prize Song to win the hand of his beloved Eva, and the cheeky apprentices, who mock the stuffy town clerk. Bizet’s Carmen is one of the world’s most popular operas and introduces the ultimate femme fatale.  In the orchestral suite of highlights that include many of Bizet’s best-loved melodies, we experience romance, high drama and exotic Spanish colour. It was after seeing a production of Carmen that Tchaikovsky [...]

'Across the Pond' Our summer programme explores the musical connections between 20th century New York and Paris.  Leonard Bernstein felt that Voltaire’s novella Candide, a satire on the hypocrisy of 18th century French society, found parallels in American society of the McCarthy era.  The scintillating overture, brimming with excitement and gorgeous melodies, opens our programme. Both Copland and Gershwin studied in Paris in the 1920s – in Gershwin’s case, not very successfully, but the light-hearted An American in Paris was the result, conjuring up French atmosphere and street sounds with its trio of saxophones and car horns.  His Piano Concerto is a wonderful synthesis of the classical concerto form with [...]

We celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by joining forces with Bath Bach Choir and The Handful to perform his mighty Choral Symphony.  Ever the musical ground-breaker, Beethoven was the first composer to introduce voices into a symphony. His inspirational setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy, celebrating the universal brotherhood of man, remains a beacon of hope in troubled times.   Liszt was also an innovator and was the first composer to use the term ‘symphonic poem’ to describe a single-movement work linked to some extra-musical idea, such as a poem or painting. Les Préludes is the best known [...]