Sinfonia by Luciano Berio is a virtuoso work full of colour and humour that poses profound questions about what a symphony can be. Its famous third movement brings together the musical universe with quotations from Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Berlioz and others collected around the framework of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (which can be heard in its original form on 12 August).

Beforehand, Varèse’s Amériques is a gripping musical depiction of New York, complete with firetrucks, foghorns and police sirens. It is an unforgettable piece of enormous power written for a gargantuan orchestra. In his smaller Intégrales, which opens the concert, Varèse sends sounds whizzing about musical space.