The Full Works Concert - Monday 12 January 2015, 8pm

'Composers looking back' is the theme of tonight's concert of works that draw on the past.

Tonight’s concert looks at what happens when composers turn to the past for inspiration, from the sound of Stravinsky being inspired by 18th-century carnival characters (pictured) to Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia inspired by a hymn tune of 16th-century composer Thomas Tallis.

The Fantasia’s main theme, heard after the hypnotic opening chords, was discovered by Vaughan Williams when he was commissioned to put together the 1906 edition of The English Hymnal. The process of research served the composer incredibly well: many of the tunes he came across were to be put to good use in all sorts of later works. 

Stravinsky and Prokofiev both found inspiration in the classical era, as did Karl Jenkins whose Palladio is inspired by architecture of the period.

Karl Jenkins: Palladio
London Philharmonic Strings

Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No.1 in D major (‘Classical’)
Kirill Karabits conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Roger Norrington conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Piano: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
Christopher Hogwood conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Pierre Boulez conducts the Cleveland Orchestra

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields