The Full Works Concert - Wednesday 18 December 2013

Karl Jenkins' Requiem - complete with Japanese instruments - is a moving conclusion to tonight's programme of classical masterpieces.

Tonight's concert opens with Rossini's overture to his opera The Barber of Seville. Rossini was well known for being remarkably productive, completing an average of two operas per year for 19 years, and in some years writing as many as four. It's believed that the music for the Barber was composed in just under three weeks, although some of the themes in the overture were actually borrowed from two earlier Rossini operas.

The Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was described by the composer himself in his own thematic catalogue as 'for beginners,' and it is sometimes known by the nickname Sonata facile or Sonata semplice. Although the piece is well-known today, it was not published in Mozart's lifetime and first appeared in print in 1805. It's played tonight by Maria-Joao Pires.

The Symphony No. 1 in D major was composed when Schubert was just 16. Despite his youth, it's an impressive piece of orchestral music for both its time and size.

In 2005, Karl Jenkins decided it was time to add his name to the collection of composers who've written Requiems. His work absolutely fits into his unique and distinctive style - an unashamed melting pot of musical genres. In keeping with tradition, Jenkins chose to set the traditional Latin text of the Requiem Mass. He makes a nod in the direction of the conventional, while still including a few surprises along the way. In the case of his Requiem, it’s the use of Japanese haiku poems, which, just like the Latin text, focus on the subject of death.

Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Seville – Overture
Riccardo Chailly conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No.16 in C major
Piano: Maria-Joao Pires

Franz Schubert: Symphony No.1 in D major
Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Karl Jenkins: Requiem
Soloists: Nicole Tibbels, Sam Landman, Catrin Finch
Karl Jenkins conducts the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra, Serendipity, the Cardiff Choir and Cytgan