Watch on demand: Santtu-Matias Rouvali—American Dreams

Artists
Santtu-Matias Rouvali – conductor
Programme
Copland Appalachian Spring
PRICE arr. STILL Dances in the Canebrakes
Steve Reich Music for Pieces of Wood
Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks
75 years ago, almost to the day, the Philharmonia Orchestra gave its first concert. Our Principal Conductor Designate Santtu-Matias Rouvali opens a season like no other in the Orchestra’s three-quarters of a century.
A trio of American composers, and one who became an American citizen, rub shoulders in Santtu’s appealing programme. Aaron Copland’s much-loved Appalachian Spring tells the tender, hopeful story of a young couple preparing for their wedding.
“★★★★ Every musician played as a soloist; every note counted. This was music-making at its best, in any circumstances.”
Flora Willson, The Guardian
Santtu joins the Philharmonia’s percussion section on claves (tuned woodblocks) for Steve Reich’s mesmerizing Music for Pieces of Wood. Florence Price conjures up the Deep South of her childhood in three characterful dances, a Rag, a Slow Drag and a Cakewalk, arranged by her friend William Grant Still.
Igor Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks is named after the grand Washington home of the couple who commissioned it. But with its lively counterpoint and contrast of timbres between strings, woodwind and horns, it is an homage not to American music but to JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.
This concert is supported by the American Patrons of the Philharmonia Foundation.
Need to know
How to book
Tickets are available via TicketCo. Full details on the Buy Access link above
How long is this available for?
This concert is available until April 2021. You have 28 days to watch after buying access
When was this broadcast?
This concert took place on Monday 26 October 2020 at Royal Festival Hall
Was it produced safely?
Yes. We work with independent health and safety experts and have robust risk assessment procedures in place drawing from Public Health England advice

Who was Florence Price?
Everything you need to know about trailblazer composer Florence Price, the first black woman to have an orchestral piece played by a major American orchestra
Read more
Keep up to date
Sign up for email updates and be the first to receive stories, films and concert announcements

