from The Granada, Clapham Junction

by John Wills

Conductor, William Pethers
from the New Hippodrome Theatre, Coventry

Gigli (tenor) ; Occhi turchini (Blue
Eyes) (Denza). Elegie (Massenet). Plaisir d'amour (Martini)

at the BBC Theatre Organ

Leader, Leonard Hirsch
Conductor, Eric. Fogg
Edward Isaacs (pianoforte)

Directed by Rene Tapponnier from the Carlton Hotel

' Theatres and Circuses '
Robert Segar

The BBC Midland Orchestra
.Leader, Alfred Cave
Conducted by Leslie Heward
Eric Hope (pianoforte)
Schumann began work on his first Symphony in December, 1840. By the end of January it was completed. It was inspired by a poem to Spring by Adolf Bottger , and he originally intended to give each movement a title. However, in a letter to a conductor he said: ' Try to inspire the orchestra with some of the longing for Spring that chiefly possessed me when I wrote the Symphony..... At the very Beginning I should like the trumpets to sound as if from on high, like a call to awaken. In what follows of the introduction there might be a suggestion of the growing green of everything, even of a butterfly flying up, and in the allegro, of the gradual assembling of all that belongs to Spring. But these are fancies that came to me after the completion of the work. Only of the last movement I will tell you that I like to think of it as Spring's Farewell, and that therefore I should not like it to be rendered frivolously.'
Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1, in E flat, is one of his most popular works, and, from some points of view, one of his finest. Unlike the three-movement classical concerto, this concerto is in one continuous movement, although there are four definite sections that correspond in style and tempo to the four movements of a symphony. They are, however, far more compact in development and terse in statement. Instead of having different thematic material for each section, Liszt exploits one main theme, which he transforms in various ingenious ways to suit the style of the movement or section. The music is very dramatic, scored with great brilliance, and written with an expert eye for pianistic effect.