Saint-Saëns' ‘Organ’ Symphony from Wales

Linton Stephens presents an afternoon of exceptional music-making featuring recent performances from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and highlights from this years Cowbridge Music Festival.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales brings together three contrasting works, from the lyrical intensity of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto to the grandeur of Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony, featuring the powerful sound of the organ. Grace Williams’s Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon adds a distinctly Welsh dimension, drawing on myth and musical storytelling to complete this diverse programme.

Elsewhere there are highlights from the Cowbridge Festival, an annual celebration of music which brings Welsh and international artists together. Today, pianist Llŷr Williams takes us on a musical journey through a rich variety of moods and scenes. Also, the Consone Quartet is joined by Rosalind Ventris on viola and Richard Lester on cello to perform Dvořák.

BBC National Orchestra of Wales:
Samuel Barber
Violin Concerto
Maria Ioudenitch (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan McAdams (conductor)

Cowbridge Festival:
Frederic Chopin
Berceuse
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
December (The Seasons)
Federico Mompou
Young girls in the garden (Scenes of Childhood)
Franz Liszt
Schlummerlied (Weihnachtsbaum)
Frank Bridge
Lament
Sergei Prokofiev
Waltz (Children’s Music)
Sergei Prokofiev
Young Juliet
Dance of the Knights (Romeo and Juliet)
Llŷr Williams (piano)

BBC National Orchestra of Wales:
Camille Saint-Saëns
Symphony No 3 in C minor, ‘Organ’
Thomas Trotter (organ)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Adrian Partington (conductor)

Cowbridge Festival:
Antonín Dvořák
String Sextet in A major
Consone Quartet
Rosalind Ventris (viola)
Richard Lester (cello)

BBC National Orchestra of Wales:
Grace Williams
Four illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jac van Steen (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".