Music for beginnings and endings. It鈥檚 hard to find a more famous, or iconically flamboyant, first few seconds than the clarinet solo at the start of Gershwin鈥檚 Rhapsody in Blue.

Karina Canellakis conducts the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and 大象传媒 SSO in a programme featuring Messiaen's Les Offrandes Oubli茅es, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with Hugh Cutting, and Stravinsky's reorchestrated Petrushka.

South African soprano Golda Schultz returns to the Proms with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, performing songs by Bernstein, Gershwin, Weill and others. Schreker鈥檚 sensuous Chamber Symphony and Stravinsky鈥檚 ballet The Firebird also feature

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London present a passion-soaked programme of 20th-century orchestral showpieces: Ravel鈥檚 ballet Daphnis and Chloe, Bernstein鈥檚 lyrical Serenade and Richard Strauss鈥檚 Don Juan

Rachmaninov, Bernstein and Dav贸ne Tines 鈥� a fresh perspective on America鈥檚 past, present and future from Daniele Rustioni and the 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra.

Influenced by Czech folk and expressionism, Haas鈥檚 Study for Strings is an energetic, introspective work now seen as a key piece of 20th-century Czech music.