Leader, Harold Fairhurst
Conductor, Richard Austin
Solo pianoforte, Lamond from the Pavilion, Bournemouth
Brahms's ' Tragic ' Overture, which was written shortly after the ' Academic Festival ' Overture, was completed in the summer of 1880. In the following January, on the occasion of Brahms receiving the honorary doctor's degree from the Breslau University, the Breslau Orchestral Society gave the first performance of these two new overtures.
In a letter to his publisher Brahms told him about a ' very merry Academic Festival Overture, with Gaudeamus and all sorts of things ; ... Having been given this opportunity I could not forbear to satisfy my melancholy disposition by writing an overture for a tragedy as well.' However, this very powerful and dramatic overture has no programme other than the expression of the mood that the title suggests.
3.29 Pianoforte Concerto No. 4, in G
Beethoven
1 Allegro moderato. 2 Andante con moto. 3 Rondo: Vivace
(Soloist, LAMOND)
4.4 Symphony No. 1, in E minor
Sibelius
1 Andante ma non troppo-Allegro energico. 2 Andante ma non troppo lento. 3 Scherzo. 4 Finale (quasi una fantasia)