A trio of works from America. Copland's great Third Symphony - with its portrayal of the wide, open spaces of North America - includes a striking reprise of the classic Fanfare for the Common Man at the start of the last movement. The symphony dates from the end of the Second World War and captures something of the sense of optimism of the American people at the time. From 25 years earlier, though sounding far more recent, comes Edgard Varèse's Amériques, whose title, he claimed, was 'symbolic of discoveries, of new worlds on Earth, in the sky or in the minds of men'; the first work that the Frenchman completed after arriving in New York, this still strikingly original score was premiered in Philadelphia by Leopold Stokowski. So too was Rachmaninov's Fourth (and last) Piano Concerto, also composed in the USA, where the composer had settled after leaving Russia in 1917. Rachmaninov himself was the soloist at the 1927 premiere; tonight it's the fearlessly virtuosic Boris Berezovsky. Air Date : 23rd-Aug-2008

Murray Gold - Doctor Who Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man Mark-Anthony Turnage - Three Asteroids Holst - The Planets Wagner - Die Walküre, WWV 86b Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2, Op 64b Ron Grainer - Doctor Who Theme (arr. Murray Gold) Air Date : 27th-Jul-2008  Read More

A trio of works from America. Copland's great Third Symphony - with its portrayal of the wide, open spaces of North America - includes a striking reprise of the classic Fanfare for the Common Man at the start of the last movement. The symphony dates from the end of the Second World War and captures something of the sense of optimism of the American people at the time. From 25 years earlier, though sounding far more recent, comes Edgard Varèse's Amériques, whose title, he claimed, was 'symbolic of discoveries, of new worlds on Earth, in the sky or in the minds of men'; the first work that the Frenchman completed after arriving in New York, this still strikingly original score was premiered in Philadelphia by Leopold Stokowski. So too was Rachmaninov's Fourth (and last) Piano Concerto, also composed in the USA, where the composer had settled after leaving Russia in 1917. Rachmaninov himself was the soloist at the 1927 premiere; tonight it's the fearlessly virtuosic Boris Berezovsky. Air Date : 23rd-Aug-2008  Read More