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Episode details

Radio 3,26 Jul 2026,119 mins

Series 2026

Poulenc and Adams

BBC Proms

Available for 77 days

Live at the BBC Proms: The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Kazuki Yamada, with soloists Lucas & Arthur Jussen perform Poulenc Concerto for two pianos and Adams Harmonium. Presented by Petroc Trelawny, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London Francis Poulenc: Sinfonietta Francis Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor c.7.50pm Interval: Petroc Trelawny talks to Gillian Moore about John Adams’s choral symphony Harmonium, which connects to this year’s Proms theme of Afterlife & Visions of Beyond, and also looks ahead to Gillian's top picks in the second week of Proms concerts. c.8.10pm John Adams: Harmonium Lucas and Arthur Jussen (pianos) CBSO Chorus Sydney Philharmonia Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Kazuki Yamada (conductor) The human voice ‘riding upon waves of rippling sound’ was the starting point for the glittering, pulsing soundscapes of John Adams’s Harmonium – one of the American composer’s defining works, harnessing the motoric energy of Minimalism to large-scale architectural form and textural richness. Commissioned by the BBC in 1947, Poulenc’s Sinfonietta is a typically playful, nose-thumbing riff on the traditional symphony, full of wit and brilliance – a mood it shares with the composer’s joyful, Mozart-inspired Concerto for two pianos. ‘Breathtaking’ Dutch siblings Lucas and Arthur Jussen make their Proms debut, joined by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Kazuki Yamada.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Sinfonietta
    Sinfonietta
    Francis Poulenc
  3. 2.
    Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor
    Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor
    Francis Poulenc
  4. 3.
    Strausseinander
    Strausseinander
    Igor Roma