Symphonic Concert

In 1930, an unprecedented experiment was undertaken in London. A major symphony orchestra was founded to meet the growing demands of the relatively new medium of radio while at the same time challenging the world’s leading orchestras. Thus, the BBC Symphony Orchestra came into being, and for almost a century has impressed audiences with its artistic standards, dedication and mission. Each year, it also attracts listeners’ attention through its broadcasts from the renowned BBC Proms summer festival.

The history of human creativity teaches us that the summer holidays can provide an ideal time for the creation of great works of art. Antonín Dvořák composed his only, and at the same time monumental, Piano Concerto in G minor during the late summer of 1876. It is a work that defies many of the conventions established by the history of the genre. Rather than treating the piano as the orchestra’s “opponent”, the composer made it its close partner. This does not mean, however, that the solo part is undemanding. Indeed, the malicious went so far as to claim that the pianist was required to labour unnecessarily at the keyboard. After Dvořák’s death, an alternative version of the concerto was even prepared in an attempt to bring the soloist out of the work’s supposed orchestral shadow and rescue the concerto from oblivion.

From the very beginning of the Orchestra’s history, Dvořák ranked among its favourite non-British composers. The ensemble’s own national pride, however, was Edward Elgar. The elderly composer witnessed the birth and early successes of Britain’s public broadcaster, and became the first composer-conductor to present one of his own works to BBC audiences. Soon after the Orchestra was founded, the BBC organised a festival in honour of its great master. During the festival, and in the composer’s presence, audiences heard, among other works, Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55, widely regarded as a landmark of English music.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

Programme

• Antonín Dvořák — Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33
• ... intermission
• Edward Elgar — Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55