Stage: Symphony

The Sussex Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Andrew James

The Sussex Symphony Orchestra with Mark Andrew James at the baton will soon perform The Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave) by Mendelssohn, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten and Symphony No 3 by Brahms.

The concert starts with Mendelssohn’s account of a visit to the island of Staffa, with its magnificent granite structures and crashing, dramatic seas, an encounter which so excited him that he immediately jotted down the opening theme, though the overture was not to be completed until three years later.

Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra was originally composed for a 1945 documentary about the instruments of the orchestra. Made up of a theme from Purcell’s Abdelazar and variations, the work is a tour de force and shows off every section wonderfully. At the concert it will be performed without a narrator.

A slow starter, he did not write his first symphony until his 43rd year, Johannes Brahms is now considered one of the greatest symphonists of all time. His third symphony is a cornerstone of the classical repertoire and is as enjoyable to perform as it is to listen to.

Symphony, St Bartholomew’s Church, Ann Street, Brighton, Saturday 24 March, 7.30pm, £5–£13, The Dome box office, 01273 709709
The Orchestra 01273 415384
or ssotickets@talktalk.net
www.ssomusic.co.uk