BBC Philharmonic - Spring, the Sweet Spring

John Storgårds conductor
Hallé Choir

Bridge Enter Spring
Shostakovich Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, ‘The First of May’
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

Winter exhales. The Earth gasps into life. The Rite of Spring welcomes in the vernal equinox, Siberian-style. Full of barbaric rituals and savage dances, the orchestra is turned by Stravinsky into a collective of cave people. Come and find out why it caused a riot at its Paris premiere in 1913. Shostakovich’s celebration takes on the form of a procession with his Third Symphony, ‘The First of May’, in a series of riotous marches culminating in his own Ode to Joy-like chorus. Rousing, uplifting music for the people. And to complete our spring harvest, ravishing swathes of sound and colour, part English idyll, part Impressionist painting. Frank Bridge’s vision of spring unfurls in one of the most individual British tone poems of the 20^th century. The concert also celebrates the 100th birthday of the BBC Philharmonic’s former Chief Conductor, Sir Edward Downes, who had a special love of Russian music which is featured in this programme.