Martyn Brabbins conductor
Deniz Sensoy violin
RCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Mariana Rosas chorus director
Bruch Violin Concerto no 1 in G minor op 26
Tippett A Child of Our Time
'Michael Tippett was an exceptional creative figure: a true visionary' – Martyn Brabbins
Martyn Brabbins, Prince Consort Professor of Conducting, leads the RCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in one of the most monumental works of the 20th century: A Child of Our Time by alumnus Sir Michael Tippett.
This secular oratorio grew out of troubling political events and reflects Tippett’s pacifism in its sincere and profound call for peace. The piece embraces a fascinating array of influences, from Bach’s Passions and Handel’s Messiah to African American spirituals such as ’Deep River’, used like Bach chorales to punctuate the oratorio with folk music, emphasising the work’s universal message. By the end of the work, we have moved from winter to the hope of spring but, as Tippett put it, ’spring with an ache in it’.
The concert opens with Bruch’s ravishing Violin Concerto performed by one of the RCM's Concerto Competition winners, Deniz Sensoy. One of the great violin concertos of the 19th century, the work features a slow movement of irresistible lyricism.
This concert also takes place on Friday 1 November.
