Name: Brahms' First Symphony
Start: 2024-05-09T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2024-05-10T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Sage Gateshead

Organization

Admin

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Conductor

Chloé van Soeterstède

Orchestra

Northern Sinfonia

Instrumentalist

Jess Gillam

Saxophone

Brahms' First Symphony

Gateshead

United Kingdom

Sage Gateshead

Sage One

Carlisle

The Sands Centre

Brahms' First Symphony: Concert Overture, D major Andrée, Elfrida (+2 More)

Public

Private

Concert

Concert Overture, D major

Saxophone Concerto, Op.109

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, op. 68

Approved

Check out our superstar artist in resident Jess Gillam do what she does best at BBC proms.

Twists. Turns. Leave on a high.
Who’s on stage
To be honest there’s not that many true ‘celebrities’ of classical music. People who have a chance of being recognised on the street. Tonight though we’ve got one – the superstar saxophonist Jess Gillam, who hails from just over the Pennines in Ulverston.

What they’re playing
Unless you’re the kind of person who writes concert blurbs you’ve probably not heard of Alexander Glazunov or Elfrida Andrée. Tonight you get to meet their music, plus there’s Johannes Brahms’ First Symphony.

What's happening in the music
Glazunov’s Saxophone concerto shatters any pre-conceptions you might have about the instrument. It’s soulful. Gentle. Light and dance-like. Brahms’ First Symphony is the opposite. It’s monumental, dramatic, full of stress….and release. And that always feels good.

Writers block
Brahms lived in the shadow of a composer you might just have heard of – Ludwig van Beethoven. With reason, he wondered how on earth he’d ever live up to Beethoven’s genius, especially when it came to symphonies. Who could really offer something new and different after Beethoven’s music? Brahms fretted over this so much it took 14 years for him to write his first symphony. It was worth the wait though.

A shocking start
When you sit down for this concert try and put yourselves in the place of an audience at the premiere of Brahms’ symphony.  A much less noisy world than today. No recorded music, no cars, no bleeps and pings from phones. Imagine then how the start of Brahms’ Symphony would be received. It’s kind of shocking. There’s pounding timpani (drums to you and me), and the tension starts ratcheting up in a way Hans Zimmer would be proud of right from the start.

English

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