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As part of Radio 3's Berlioz season, Tom Service introduces a complete broadcast of David Sawer’s radiophonic work Swansong, commissioned by the Â鶹ԼÅÄ and first broadcast in 1989. Sawer’s work is an evocation of a fantastical musical city, Euphonia, imagined by Hector Berlioz in one of the tales from his book Evenings With The Orchestra. Sawer has taken Berlioz’s descriptions of the strange sounds of the city and used the resources of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Orchestra, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Singers, various solo instruments, sound effects and a children’s choir to evoke Euphonia in the form of a radiophonic symphonic poem.

Also tonight, music by another British composer of today deeply inspired by Berlioz, Benedict Mason, and his site-specific work for the Baarsporthalle at Donaueschingen and commissioned for the festival by Southwest German Radio. From the same concert we also hear an orchestral work by a long-overlooked Swiss composer, Hermann Meier, and our Sound of the Week comes from the Dutch composer Carlijn Metselaar who takes us into the undergrowth for the snapping of twigs and branches.

David Sawer: Swansong (1989)
Nick Dear (text)
Robert Lang (speaker)
Eric Hill (guitar)
Imogen Barford (harp)
Sophia Preston (double bass)
Rolf Hind (piano)
Jeremy Sams (accordion)
Simon Limbrick (percussion)
Finchley Children's Music Group
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Singers
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Symphony Orchestra
Rupert Bawden, Ronald Corp (conductors)

Hermann Meier: Stück für großes Orchester und Klavier vierhändig (1965)
Benedict Mason: Ricochet (2018)
SWR Symphonieorchester
Peter Rundel (conductor)