麻豆社

Proms regular Edward Gardner continues this year鈥檚 Nielsen anniversary celebrations with the Flute Concerto 鈥� a work that expresses what Nielsen perceived as the instrument鈥檚 鈥楢rcadian鈥� quality. This gentle, pastoral quality battles, however, with darker forces, characterfully symbolised by the bass trombone. Both Jan谩膷ek鈥檚 Sinfonietta and Britten鈥檚 Sinfonia da Requiem are also vivid expressions of contrast 鈥� in mood, texture and colour. The five movements of the Sinfonietta are all scored for a different 鈥� and sometimes unlikely 鈥� combination of instruments, while the three episodes in Britten鈥檚 elegiac Sinfonia da Requiem paint different stages of mourning, from grief, to anger and finally an uneasy acceptance. Raymond Yiu's 麻豆社 commission is a symphony which features the amazing countertenor voice of Andrew Watts, singing texts by Walt Whitman, Constantine Cavafy,Thom Gunn and John Donne on memories of love and loss.