Dvorak had composed his New World Symphony shortly before embarking upon the Cello Concerto in B minor, but no hints of America remain. From the opening Slavic chant to the Czech folk themes of the Rondo, Dvorak is firmly back on home soil. The work was warmly endorsed by Brahms, who said ‘Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? Had I known, I would have written one long ago.’
Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem was composed in 1940 when the composer was just 26. Although the three movements take their titles from the Latin mass, it is a purely orchestral work written in his early, largely tonal style. The world premiere took place in New York in 1941, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by John Barbirolli, and the work’s success in America led to Britten’s commission to compose the opera ‘Peter Grimes’.
The ‘Sinfonia Sacra’ is a symphonic work by Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik, written in 1963 to mark Poland’s millennium of Christianity and Statehood in 1966. The two sections, ‘Three Visions’ and ‘Hymn’ are both based on the Bogurodzica, a plainchant which is the earliest known hymn in Polish. Written in an accessible and popular style, the work received early worldwide critical acclaim and has since attracted the attention of many respected conductors.
more about City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra
The City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra started life in 1973 as the Harston String Orchestra. Later, as a result of a change in venue, it became the Barton String Orchestra. In 2000 Leon Lovett took over as conductor and shortly afterwards, the orchestra changed its name to the Cambridge String Players. Under his baton, the orchestra has appeared regularly in West Road Concert Hall and in other venues around Cambridge. In addition to playing works for strings, the orchestra increasingly invited wind players to join it to perform works from the symphonic repertoire. Recognising this change of emphasis, the musicians decided that the orchestra needed a new name and in September 2008, it became the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. In February 2012 Robert Hodge became CCSO’s new conductor.