"For many, programme music is a necessarily inferior genre. Much has been written about it which I find impossible to understand. Is the music in itself good or bad? Everything depends on that. Whether it has a programme or not, it will neither be better nor worse." (Saint-Saens).
David Byers samples Saint-Saens's music with and without a storyline. Romance in F Michael Thompson (horn), Ulster Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Montgomery Danse Macabre Philharmonia , conductor Charles Dutoit
Romance in D flat Gary Arbuthnot (flute), Ulster Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Montgomery
Le Rouet d'Omphale Philharmonia, conductor Charles Dutoit
Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor
Jean-Philippe Collard , RPO, conductor Andre Previn
Repeated next Wednesday 12 midnight