Under the charismatic direction of Sir Simon Rattle, the London Symphony Orchestra performs a trio of scores that take us from Iran to Africa to Eastbourne. Before the music starts, Festival Director Nicola Benedetti joins Rattle to discuss his relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The programme takes us on a journey through early 20th-century French works which influenced Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony. Paul Dukas, who taught Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire, opens his ballet La Péri with a brilliant brass Fanfare. This sets the scene for the tale of Iskender (the Persian name for Alexander the Great) as he encounters a mythical ‘Peri’ or winged spirit.

Based on African folk mythology, Darius Milhaud’s ballet The Creation of the World was inspired by jazz heard on the streets of Harlem, linking to the big band sounds that infuse Messiaen's symphony. Debussy’s sparkling seascape La Mer, finished during a holiday in Eastbourne, conjures up the sea in all its majesty – from playful splashes to crashing waves of sound.

Supported by

and Dunard Fund and Susie Thomson