Chichester Psalms

To celebrate the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence 250 years ago, the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales are joined by celebrated American conductor Kellen Gray to perform a programme of Copland, Christopher Tin, Grant Still, Barber, and Bernstein. The scene is set with Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, a piece that conjures the celebration of settlers in a newly built farmhouse in Pennsylvania, before Christopher Tin also draws on American landscapes and experiences in his Piano Concerto, Pursuit of Happiness. Commissioned and performed for its UK premiere by pianist Lara Downes, the audaciously optimistic concerto celebrates the ideals pursued and deserved by every American.

After the interval, the Orchestra begins with William Grant Still's Festive Overture, a work which celebrated the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Jubilee year in 1944 but in doing so celebrates the America of which he was incredibly proud, followed by Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei - a choral reworking of his ever-popular Adagio for Strings. To complete the celebrations, Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, a dramatic setting of Psalms in the original Hebrew for treble, chorus, and Orchestra.

Presented by Alexandra Humphreys in BBC Hoddinott Hall on the 5th July.

Copland: Appalachian Spring (Suite)
Christopher Tin: Pursuit of Happiness
Grant Still: Festive Overture
Barber: Agnus Dei, Op 11
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

Lara Downes (piano)
Morris Bates (Treble)
BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
Kellen Gray (conductor)

To listen on most smart speakers, just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert."