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Vaughan Williams The Wasps (Overture)

Ester Mägi Bukoolika (UK premiere)

Helen Grime Trumpet Concerto (night-sky-blue)

Nielsen Symphony No. 4 The Inextinguishable

Arvo Volmer conductor

Matilda Lloyd trumpet

DEPICTIVE | RADIANT | ENCHANTING

We turn to nature in tonight's concert, opening with Vaughan Williams' overture to The Wasps. Revelling in the majesty and serenity of England's countryside, the overture, based on the Aristophanes comedy of the same name, opens with the raspy buzz of swarming wasps sent to rescue the imprisoned father of the works narrative.

Ester Mägi's Bukoolika takes its inspiration from herding songs and birdcall in this inwardly gentle, wistful and sometimes awestruck contemplation of nature, before we discover Helen Grime's depictions of nature at night, in particular its sweeping nocturnal gardens and the natural world after dark. To perform we're delighted to welcome trumpet sensation Matilda Lloyd to make her debut with BBC NOW.

Of his Fourth Symphony Nielsen said, "In case all the world was devastated...then nature would still begin to breed new life again, begin to push forward again.... These forces, which are 'inextinguishable,' I have tried to represent." and it is with this masterpiece we draw tonight's concert to a close.