"Those who experienced the tremendous impact of its first performance had full justification for feeling that a great composer had arisen in our land, a composer to whose potentialities it was impossible to set any limits." Hussey on the premiere of Belshazzar's Feast
A Bolero is a popular Spanish dance or song and the first piece in the programme is well known as the soundtrack which took Torvill and Dean to Olympic gold in 1984. During composition Ravel said to a friend 鈥淒on鈥檛 you think this theme has an insistent quality? I鈥檓 going to try and repeat it a number of times without any development, gradually increasing the orchestra...鈥� Listen for the repeated rhythm of the snare drum as the orchestra builds throughout the piece.
Ravel鈥檚 jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in G was written after a trip to America when jazz was at the height of its popularity. Back home in Paris the trend was also catching on at cafes across the city. Whilst the work still uses a classical structure the harmonies and rhythms are clearly taken from jazz. Listen out for the opening whip crack and drum roll.
Commissioned for and first performed at the 1931 Leeds Festival, Walton鈥檚 energetic oratorio Belshazzar鈥檚 feast highlights the city鈥檚 two great choirs.
Please note change of pianist. Peter Donohoe will now replace Louis Schwizgebel.