Bristol Concert Orchestra

Mendelssohn Ruy Blas Overture Op 95

Strauss Oboe Concerto AV 144, TrV 292

Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 in B minor (Pathétique) Op 74

Bristol Concert Orchestra welcomes Ewan Millar (BBC Young Musician 2020 winner of the Woodwind category) to join them with the Strauss oboe concerto. The piece was written late in the composer’s career, after Strauss was nearly evicted from his home in Garmisch at the end of WW2 by the American military – fortuitously the soldier designated to inform the composer that he had 15 minutes to pack up and clear out of the house recognised exactly who he was and designated an exclusion zone around the property allowing the Strauss to remain in residence. Further conversations with one of the other soldiers (John de Lancie, who just happened to have been the principal oboeist in the Pittsburgh Orchestra in civilian life) planted a seed in Strauss’ mind which germinated to produce this delightful late work which radiates warmth and emotion. Mendelssohn wrote the Ruy Blas Overture midway through his short life, which means that he was of a similar age to our oboe soloist. He did not like the original Victor Hugo novel and balked at completing a commission to compose suvh an overture but eventually he composed this dramatic and powerful work in just three days. Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique is probably his most loved symphony, and he believed that it was his best work. The Russian title really means ‘passionate’ and indeed it would be hard to imagine a more emotional piece. It was a late composition and was first performed under the composer’s direction only nine days before his death.