G. Williams Concert Overture
Sir Karl Jenkins Stravaganza (BBC commission)
Farrenc Overture No. 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major
Jess Gillam soprano saxophone
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Nil Venditti conductor
With his Symphony No. 7 Beethoven permanently realigned Western music’s fundamental relationship with rhythm. In the process, he created some of the most compelling music of his age.
Young Italian-Turkish conductor Nil Venditti places this momentous symphonic dance alongside music by a composer from the generation after Beethoven, one who picked up the master’s baton and ran with it: Louise Farrenc.
The first half spotlights two Welsh composers born less than 40 years apart. Grace Williams’ jaunty Concert Overture, written in her mid-twenties, came ‘highly recommended’ after its entry in a Daily Telegraph competition in 1932–3. And Sir Karl Jenkins, one of the most popular composers of our time, wrote his Stravaganza especially for tonight’s soloist, Jess Gillam.
Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.