Radio 3 in Concert: Jess Gillam and BBC NOW

Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft directs the string section of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a programme which takes us gradually back in time; starting with a performance of a piece written by Peet Morrison this year in response to the pandemic we are living through, and ending 140 years ago with Tchaikovsky's supremely elegant Serenade for Strings. Along the way we sample Jessie Montgomery's Source Code, her 2013 work heavily influenced by spirituals and the American civil rights movement, and visit two of Glazunov's most loved works, his 1934 Saxophone Concerto and turn of the century Chant du Menestrel, reworked here for saxophone rather than cello. Joining the orchestra as soloist is the award-winning young saxophonist Jess Gillam. Recorded last month in BBC Hoddinott Hall and presented by Nicola Heywood Thomas. 7.30 Peet Morrison: Sweet Final Breath, Dare Thou Linger Eternal. Jessie Montgomery: Source Code. Glazunov: Saxophone Concerto, Op 109. Glazunov: Chant du Menestrel, Op 71. 8.10 Interval music. 8.30 Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C major, Op 48. Jess Gillam (saxophone), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ryan Bancroft (conductor). Followed by music off disc: Joseph Haydn: Symphony No 82 in C major, The Bear. Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)