Fantastic Symphony

Experience a celebration of the saxophone with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at Lighthouse, Poole on Wednesday 5 November. Chief conductor Mark Wigglesworth conducts this unique concert, including a UK premiere of Celebrated Composer Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto performed by Jess Gillam.

An early comic opera by Wagner, Forbidden Love is set in Sicily and celebrates the Italian pleasure in life and love. The very un-Wagner-like overture sets the scene in an almost Gilbert and Sullivan manner, with dancing rhythms, imaginative use of percussion, lots of big ensembles, and flamboyant finale.

Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto is a homage to the instrument’s inventor Adolphe Sax. Howard explains that it “reflects the pivotal moments in Sax’s life; his ingenuity, his resilience in the face of adversity, and the enduring legacy of his invention”.

Hector Berlioz was a good friend of Sax and the first composer to write a piece for the new instrument. Ever the original, his Symphonie fantastique sounded like no other music yet written when it was first performed in the 1830s. With its daring music and staggeringly inventive use of the orchestra, it tells its own story of forbidden love. Its forms are fresh, its programme is grotesque, with bold, unexpected harmonies and melodies united around a recurring musical motive. It is still to this day, unlike anything else; there isn’t a page of this score that doesn’t contain something distinctive and surprising – an iconic leap forward in musical and romantic expression.

Works and composers
Wagner - Forbidden Love Overture
Howard - Saxophone Concerto (UK premiere)
Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique

This concert is part of an ongoing series on Wednesday evenings at Lighthouse, Poole. Multibuy discounts are on offer for all concerts booked through the BSO Box Office – so the more you visit, the more you save! They will also be streaming 19 Digital Concerts this season so check out their What’s On page on bsolive.com, to see which concerts you can watch from the comfort of your own home.