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If historically serenades were intended as music for entertainment, then Brahms has most definitely excelled in his Serenade No. 2. This early work oozes Brahmsian character from the outset with its lilting warmth, lively cross rhythms, and plenteous melody to charm any listener.

Similarly characteristic, but more brooding in nature is Brahms’ heady setting of the poem Schicksalslied by Friedrich Hölderlin. In two verses contrasting the lives of the eternally blissful with those subjected to cruel fate, Brahms moves between the light and airy versus the tempestuous. Stravinsky, by contrast, uses modes reminiscent of traditional Gregorian chant, paired with fugal counterpoint and ecstatic dance motifs to portray the text of psalms in a pure work of genius, his Symphony of Psalms! To conduct ´óÏó´«Ã½ National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales in their final concert of the Cardiff season we’re delighted to welcome back Principal Conductor, Ryan Bancroft.