The Full Works Concert - Thursday 2 January 2014

On the Full Works Concert tonight, Jane Jones showcases composers who will be celebrating notable anniversaries in 2014.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (pictured) was born 300 years ago on 8 March. He was the fifth child and second surviving son of J.S. Bach and was himself a highly influential composer working at a time of transition between his father's baroque style and the classical and romantic styles that followed. Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the children." Haydn's training was derived from a study of C.P.E. Bach's work and Beethoven expressed the highest admiration for him. Tonight we hear C.P.E. Bach's Keyboard Concerto in D and his Symphony in F.

It's also 300 years since the birth of Christoph Willibald Gluck. Born 2 July 1714, Gluck was a composer of the early classical period who broke the mould of opera norms with a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. We hear his Dance of the blessed spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice.

Richard Strauss was born 150 years ago. He is best known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome. Along with Mahler, Strauss represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Wagner. Tonight we hear two of his orchestral works - his Romance for Clarinet and Orchestra in Eb major and the tone poem, Don Juan - which was the first piece to demonstrate his mature personality and a new kind of virtuosity.

Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers of the Baroque era. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests. After being neglected for centuries, Rameau today enjoys renewed appreciation with frequent performances and recordings. He died 250 years ago this year.

Giacomo Meyerbeer died 150 years ago on 2 May 1864. He was perhaps the most successful stage composer of the 19th century, his grand opera style achieved by his merging of German orchestral with Italian vocal traditions. He was an early supporter of Wagner, enabling the first production of Wagner's opera, Rienzi. But it was Wagner's later anti-Semitic assaults on Meyerbeer that led to a decline in the composer's popularity and subsequent neglect. Our concert concludes with his ballet suite from Les Patineurs.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D major Wq 43 No.2
Anastasia Injushina
Ralf Gothoni conducts Hamburger Camerata

Richard Strauss: Romance for Clarinet & Orchestra in Eb major
Karl-Heinz Steffens
Karl Anton Rickenbacher conducts Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Deuxieme Concert
Christophe Rousset conducts Les Talens Lyriques

Giacomo Meyerbeer: Les Patineurs
Richard Bonynge conducts National Philharmonic Orchestra

Christoph Willibald Gluck: Dance of the blessed spirits
Marc Minkowski conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Symphony in F major
Andrew Manze conducts English Concert

Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Daniel Barenboim conducts Chicago Symphony Orchestra