Join the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic and conductor John Wilson at MediaCityUK today for a celebration of springtime’s abundance. First on the programme is a selection of works from celebrated American composer Edward MacDowell, whose philanthropic vision became his great legacy. MacDowell was deeply inspired by the idyllic surroundings of his farm in rural New Hampshire, and he composed many of his best-loved works there, including To a Wild Rose, which we hear today. Towards the end of his life, MacDowell and his wife Marian founded the MacDowell Residency, an artistic retreat based at their home, and where they hoped that other creatives might benefit from the peace and tranquillity. The prestigious Residency continues to thrive more than a century after MacDowell’s death, with many internationally recognised artists amongst its Fellows. This afternoon, the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic’s Principal Cellist Peter Dixon is soloist in MacDowell’s Romance for cello and orchestra, a gentle yet stirring work, suggestive of a woodland stroll in the light of the setting sun.
British composer Arnold Bax was similarly inspired by the natural world. He based his five-movement symphony, Spring Fire, on the imagery in Algernon Swinburne’s decadent verse-drama, Atalanta in Calydon, where "the hounds of spring are on winter's traces..." Leaves and buds unfurl, nymphs, fauns and roguish satyrs stir from their winter rest, and a primeval forest awakens at last. Bax captures this sensuous joy in a piece of music that shimmers with the elegant colour and detail of a William Morris fabric.
MacDowell: Hamlet and Ophelia
MacDowell: Romance for cello and orchestra
MacDowell arr. Herbert: To a Wild Rose
MacDowell: Suite No. 1
Bax: Spring Fire
John Wilson, conductor
Peter Dixon, cello
