Jakub Hruša: Schubert and Brahms | Philharmonia Orchestra

Immerse yourself in a programme of three great works of German romanticism, conducted by the Philharmonia's Principal Guest Conductor, Jakub Hruša.

The two completed movements of Schubert’s Symphony No 8 are an object lesson in orchestral writing. Opening with a whisper from cellos and double basses, the music bubbles up into what a critic at the first performance described as ‘a sweet stream of melodies… so crystal-clear that you can see every pebble on the bottom’.

Mendelssohn’s much-loved Violin Concerto, too, brims with lyricism. Mendelssohn wrote it for his childhood friend Ferdinand David, leader of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, and it quickly attained the status it retains today as one of the essential works in the violin repertoire.

Brahms was at the height of his powers when he composed his Third Symphony, no longer assailed by self-doubt as he was with his First (performed on 4 November 2018). He built into each movement the motif F – A flat – F, standing for his personal motto ‘Frei aber Froh’, ‘free but happy’, and created a masterpiece, full of intensity and drama as well as moments of quiet, reflective beauty.