Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

A short guide to classical and orchestral music

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The critically acclaimed and much-loved Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra are sailing into their centenary year. To celebrate, they’ve unveiled a blockbuster season of concerts and recitals which encompasses everything from established classics to the work of renowned experimentalists. 

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Commencing on Thurs 22 Sept, this landmark schedule brings together a host of world class soloists and works as diverse as Stravinsky's explosive, ground-breaking The Rite of Spring and Duke Ellington’s Blue Note cool. To try and comprehend the epic assortment of orchestral delights, we gathered just a few of the BPO’s finest performers and asked them two simple questions:

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A) Which piece from the new season are you most looking forwards to playing?

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And…

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B) What piece of orchestral music could make anybody fall in love with the whole genre?

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The answers were both exciting and inspiring.

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PETER ADAMS – Cello, Principal 

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A) EDWARD ELGAR: ENIGMA VARIATIONS

Sun 9 Feb / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

It is so difficult to pick just one piece that I am looking forward to playing in this season as there are so many great pieces and the programmes are so diverse, but it has to be Elgar’s Enigma Variations. I find it incredibly moving the way Elgar depicts his friends in music and I love the cello solo which appears out of the stillness and sighs before the start of the next variation.

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B) JESS GILLAM: SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS

Sun 13 Oct / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

The programme I would recommend to ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with orchestral music’ would be the concert with the saxophonist Jess Gillam. The overture is a stunner, the Glazunov sax concerto will be amazing and the Gorecki Symphony is very beautiful, and the sound will be familiar to a lot of people even if they don’t recognise its name.

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XIAOWEN SHANG  - Keyboard

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A) STEVE REICH: REICH/RICHTER

Sun 23 March / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I am looking forward very much to perform two of Steve Reich’s ensemble pieces, Runner and Reich/Richter. In these two pieces, I’ll be alongside amazing musicians and colleagues, including Joanna, our BPO Music Director. In Reich’s music, every musician is a soloist and chamber musician.

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B) PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY: PIANO CONCERTO # 1

Sun 22 Sept / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I would recommend the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 to ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with music! It is such a beautiful piece, and you would be able to enjoy the virtuosic piano solo and the grand orchestral music in one piece. My favourite bit is the beginning of the third movement, the lively folk dance music, in this concerto. If you would like to listen to it live do not miss BPO’s performance on the 22nd of September!

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ISAAC SHIEH - French Horn, Sub Principal 

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A) JAMES MACMILLAN: VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL

Sun 1 Dec / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

The piece in the season I am most looking forward to playing is MacMillan’s percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. I have been a huge fan of his compositions, and the piece is really fun, yet it contains moments of great beauty and serenity. I am also excited to work with Dame Evelyn Glennie!

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B) NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: SCHEHERAZADE

Sun 1 Dec / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I think Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is a great piece for ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with music’! Based on One Thousand and One Nights, it’s a really beautiful programmatic piece that has a very colourful orchestration, where different instruments across the orchestra have moments to shine!

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JONATHAN PRICE - BASSOON, PRINCIPAL

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A) IGOR STRAVINSKY: RITE OF SPRING

Sun 22 Sept / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I am most looking forward to playing Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. A seminal piece that changed the world of classical music traditions forever. Stravinsky requires virtuosic playing from every section of the orchestra, and the piece has gained huge notoriety due to the driving rhythms and brutally powerful orchestrations. As a bassoonist It is such a rewarding piece to play, from the opening unaccompanied solo, with it’s haunting melody, to the powerful climaxing rhythms that close the piece.

B) EDWARD ELGAR: ENIGMA VARIATIONS 

Sun 9 Feb / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

The programme I recommend to ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with music’ is Walton and Elgar. Two of the finest English composers. Enigma Variations is a beautiful journey through sections of music that Elgar dedicated to various friends and colleagues, illustrating his lush and expansive sound world, and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast is a masterclass of dramatic, powerful, and visceral writing for choir and orchestra.

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RUTH RODGERS - FIRST VIOLIN, LEADER

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A) NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: SCHEHERAZADE

Sun 1 Dec / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I am most looking forward to playing Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade - a colourful piece full of the aromas of the Middle East and the fragrances of folk music. I will be lucky enough to play the violin solos and will endeavour to entrance the Sultan with my story-telling!

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B) ASTOR PIAZOLLO’S TANGOS

Sat 16 Nov / Brighton Corn Exchange

I would highly recommend the Piazzolla Tangos to ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with classical music’. They are so accessible, vibrant, wild and fun. The concert would be a great introduction to the classical repertoire as it is quirky and varied, and Joanna MacGregor is such a dynamic performer.

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NICKY SWEENEY – FIRST VIOLIN, CO-LEADER

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A) IGOR STRAVINSKY: THE RITE OF SPRING

Sun 22 Sept / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

I’m so excited about the centenary celebrations of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra this year. It’s such an incredible achievement for a regional orchestra to still be flourishing 100 years on… but I think I’m most looking forward to playing Stravinsky’s iconic masterpiece, the Rite of Spring. As musicians, it’s one of those pieces that we don’t get to play many times in our lives as it’s not programmed often. It has a massive orchestration and is incredibly exciting to play. When Stravinsky wrote it over 100 years ago it was totally groundbreaking and avant-garde and it still sounds modern now.

B) ALL BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES 

I think I’d recommend Beethoven symphonies for ‘anyone who wants to fall in love with orchestral music’. They are all such a mix of beauty and excitement and they encompass all the different moods and colours on the spectrum. You can imagine the different emotions Beethoven was feeling..Joy, anger, peace etc..and let your imagination run riot..

DONNA-MARIA LANDOWSKI – PERCUSSION, PRINCIPAL

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A) OLIVIER MESSIAEN: TURANGALÎLA SYMPHONY

Sun 13 April / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

It’s tricky to say which will be my favourite programme as it’s a great season for percussion and percussionists with an all-star line up of Evelyn Glennie, Colin Currie and playing the music of Steve Reich. Plus, lots of great pieces which challenge the section, particularly Scherezade, The Rite and of course the mammoth Turangalîla. So, I’ll look forward to them all and if I wasn’t playing, I’d probably be buying a ticket!

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B) BLUE NOTES: CONDUCTED BY CLARK RUNDELL

Sat 25 Jan / Brighton Dome Concert Hall

But if I were advising ‘anyone wanting to fall in love with music’, I’d say come to the Clark Rundell concert. We worked with him last year playing West Side and Short Ride and he has got so much fizzing energy you can’t help but absorb some of it. It’s also a mash up of styles so should be an easy way to orchestral music. But I could have picked any one of the conductors/ composers/ soloists and said they were my favourite. As I said an all-star cast!!

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For more details on these performances, head to: www.brightonphil.org.uk

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