Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano concerto No.2 (soloist Ollie Dewar)
Gustav Holst: The Planets

Durham University Orchestral Society’s symphony orchestra embark on an immersive journey around the cosmos with the help of Durham University Astronomy department and Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets. Each movement will be introduced with short speeches about everything from the beauty of the galaxy; instrument science and how the Ogden Centre conducts their research; harmonic resonances in the Milky Way; and  how Holst uses the orchestra to paint the awe and majesty of each of the planets. The music itself will be accompanied with visuals showing simulations of deep space, provided by the astronomy department, to create a truly immersive experience.

The orchestra open the programme with the monumental sunrise of Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra (famously used in the opening sequence of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey).  This year marks the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth, and like Strauss’s Zarathustra, his 2nd piano concerto is another work closely associated with film, its heartbreaking second movement making a fitting score for ‘Brief Encounter’.

Tickets £15, concessions £10