The Full Works Concert – Thursday 25th July 2013: School's Out!

School is now well and truly out for summer – so tonight, a concert of music inspired by travelling, holidays and journeys to all sorts of exciting places!

Tonight, Jane Jones has some musical suggestions for good holiday destinations and her travels start off in Prague where Mozart went on holiday in December of 1878. He took a new symphony with him - as one does when one goes on holiday - and found that the music was so popular with the city's audiences when it was first performed that he said the work belonged to them – hence the nickname - the Prague Symphony. It's played tonight by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra conducted by Rene Jacobs. 

Mendelssohn was so inspired by his travels in the Scottish islands that he sent a postcard to his family with the opening phrase of a new overture written on it. In a note to his sister, Fanny he said: 'In order to make you understand how extraordinarily The Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.' Alexander Gibson conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture in tonight's concert. 

After a jaunty piano excursion, Bank Holiday by Ernest Moeran, we are off to the south-eastern corner of Finland with Sibelius and his Karelia suite. In 1893 Sibelius wrote several works for a patriotic historical pageant by students of the University of Helsinki in Viipuri, Karelia. The composer subsequently compiled the suite of three pieces from the pageant's incidental music. He held the Karelia province in particular affection. In earlier years he had been inspired by its folk music, and later he was to spend his honeymoon there.

Chopin was reportedly inspired to compose his Raindrop Prelude after going on his doctor’s orders to holiday in Majorca, where instead of the expected warm climate he endured days of rain. Finally tonight, we are Off on Holiday in the company of Josef Strauss with Claudio Abbado conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No.38 in D major (‘Prague’)
Rene Jacobs conducts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Felix 

Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
Alexander Gibson conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Ernest John Moeran: Bank Holiday
Piano: Una Hunt

Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite
Neeme Jarvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Frederic Chopin: Preludes Opus 28
Piano: Nikolai Lugansky

Josef Strauss: Off on Holiday
Claudio Abbado conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra