The Full Works Concert - Tuesday 17 December 2013

John Rutter's melodic and moving Requiem is the climax of tonight's Full Works Concert.

Tonight's concert opens with the Symphony No. 104 in D major by Joseph Haydn - his final symphony. It was the last of the twelve so-called London Symphonies, and is known as the London Symphony. The work was composed by Haydn while he was living in London in 1795 and premiered at the King’s Theatre in a concert directed by the composer. The premiere was a success; Haydn wrote in his diary "The whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made 4000 gulden on this evening: such a thing is possible only in England."

Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor was dedicated to the composer's friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim, who had persuaded Bruch to expand what had started out as a single movement piece into a full concerto. Despite being advocated by Joachim and Pablo de Sarasate, this concerto has never achieved the same prominence as the popular G minor concerto.

Composed in 1985, John Rutter's Requiem is reminiscent of the Requiem of Fauré for its simplicity, brevity and rich choral writing. This seven-movement work is traditional in its inspiration, using texts from the Requiem Mass and the Book of Common Prayer. The gloriously pure Pie Jesu is a real highlight – as is the Requiem Aeternam, which opens the work. Still performed regularly across the world, Rutter’s Requiem thoroughly earns its status as one of the most popular compositions of the last thirty years.

Josef Haydn: Symphony No.104 in D major (‘London’)
Charles Mackerras conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Max Bruch: Violin Concerto No.3 in D minor
Violin: Salvatore Accardo
Kurt Masur conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

John Rutter: Requiem
Soloists: Caroline Ashton, Donna Deam 
John Rutter conducts the City of London Sinfonia and the Cambridge Singers