Symphonic Horizons Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Brahms

Exeter University Great Hall, Exeter

Mendelssohn’s musical postcard is more of a tone poem than an overture in the traditional sense. It conjures up a whole seascape including the grandeur of Fingal’s Cave, the swelling of the sea, the light on the water and the fury of the waves breaking on the monumental cliffs. Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is an exuberant and passionate work filled with uninhibited virtuosity. The dramatic and lengthy first movement is based on the menacing-sounding Ukrainian folk tune titled Song of the Blind and is filled with extensive technical passages made up of lush chord sequences and scales. The finale is also based on a folk tune – a combination of hymn-like solemnity and more technical wizardry. The Second Symphony might be described as Brahms’ ‘Pastoral’, a total contrast to his dramatic and very serious First. Its song-like melodies are imbued with a gentle quality – in their simple beauty the themes give the impression of having been written down as a result of spontaneous inspiration. In Brahms’ own words, “a delightfully happy spirit” pervades the whole work.