BBC Now - Now!

Kicking off the series is BBC NOW's Composer-in-Association, Gavin Higgins, with the concerts world premiere, his Sarabande, before we turn to the exciting multi-award-winning Chinese American composer Tan Dun and his Three Muses in Video Game. This trombone concerto pays tribute to gaming music, whilst reflecting the traditional music of China - with its movements named after ancient Chinese instruments these distinctive sounds are the muse for orchestra and soloist alike. To perform we're delighted to welcome Jrgen van Rijen, who also gave the works world premiere. Composition: Wales 2023 participant Anna Whitcombe's And the Skies Become Vermillion leads us into a celebration of Ross Edwards' 80th birthday with the UK premiere of his rhythmic, colourful and radiant Chorale and Ecstatic Dance, then comes a UK premiere by Sir James MacMillan. A musical snapshot of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem Mariana the work explores grief through highly charged and expressive modal melodies vying with primal outbursts, lamenting and introverted solos and complex counterpoint.