Explore what's on: Friday 28 September 2007

The first in a series of concerts celebrating Edward Gregson’s final year as Principal of the RNCM opens fittingly with one of his own compositions.

Edward Gregson Stepping Out
Benjamin Britten Prelude and Fugue for 18 Strings
Barry Guy After the Rain
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations
William Walton Sonata for Strings

Stepping Out is a short, ‘up-front’ kind of piece commissioned for the RNCM String Orchestra’s London début in 1996. Benjamin Britten’s 1939 setting of Arthur Rimbaud’s erotic and elusive verses, Les Illuminations, is one of his most vivid and inspired works. Britten’s Prelude and Fugue for 18 strings certainly shows off the composer’s remarkable skill in fugue writing, in fact there’s a separate part for every member of the orchestra. Best known as a virtuoso double bass player and jazz musician, Barry Guy’s After the Rain takes its inspiration from a Max Ernst painting.