Debussy, Copland & Vaughan Williams

Debussy’s La mer represented a breakthrough. The French Impressionists had liberated painting and music was quick to follow.

Here, the great master of musical colour creates shifting moods of excitement and splendour that capture his lifelong love of the sea – “endless and beautiful”.

We hear a similar versatility in Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Originally written for the great Benny Goodman and closely associated with the American landscape and people, its bittersweet melodies give way to Latin American and jazz-like rhythms and the optimistic spirit of the New World.

Soloist James Burke makes his concerto debut with the Sydney Symphony in this performance which sees the welcome return of our Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles.