A new orchestral commission by Fergus Johnston is premiered this month.

RTÉ has commissioned two new pieces for the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra’s Brahmsfest, a series of five concerts taking place in the National Concert Hall.

Brahms Begins the Day by Fergus Johnston will be performed on 28 April, in a programme which includes Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Third Symphony. The other work, a Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, is by Krzysztof Meyer and will be premiered on 5 May.

Fergus Johnston writes of his piece:

When I was a child there was a copy of The Oxford Companion to Music on the shelf (1937 edition edited by Percy A. Scholes) which was my reference for all things musical. I was always particularly intrigued by the drawings and illustrations by “Batt”. One in particular stood out: that of an elderly gentleman stooped over a coffee-stove, a cup in one hand as the other reached for the machine, a smoking cigar protruding from the beard, the waistcoat giving little support to the pot-belly which hung over the belt. It was called “Brahms Begins the Day”. The caption described how the composer rose at 5:00am, and made his own coffee because no one else could make it strong enough. He drank the brew apparently accompanied by an “equally strong cigar, the first of many throughout the day".

The RTÉ Brahmsfest runs from Thursday 20 April to Saturday 6 May in the National Concert Hall. For details please visit the Calendar.

Posted: 20 April 2006