BBC Concert Orchestra 2025-2026 Friday Night is Music Night: Celestial Wonders

Moonrise, sunset and the very brightest of stars: BBC Radio 3’s Friday Night is Music Night whirls you into the heavens, in the company of saxophone phenomenon Amy Dickson, conductor Owain Park and presenter Petroc Trelawny.

How sweet the moonlight…but the wonders of the heavens have always made for beautiful music, and not only in darkness. Clouds roll and dance, the sun sends joy glittering around the world, and a perfect day ends in a blaze of glorious colour. In the music of Grofé, Dove and the inimitable Lord Berners, you can hear every glint and glimmer. But Friday Night is Music Night, after all, and in this concert of celestial wonders and unforgettable tunes, evening is when the magic really starts.

Planets waltz, comets shoot across the skies and stars shine down on lovers, dreamers and enchanted landscapes. Debussy and Sibelius felt the wonder; so did Henry Mancini and George Melachrino, and you already love their melodies. We’ve got some modern marvels too, plus a shining star in the fabulous Amy Dickson.

Programme:

Tabakova - Orpheus' Comet
Ketelby - In The Moonlight
Angela Morley - Starlight
George Melachino - Starlight Roof Waltz
Patric Standford - Celestial Fire Suite – Waltz
Joby Talbot - The Transit of Venus
Debussy - Claire de Lune
Mancini - Moon River
Strauss - Waltz: Music of the Spheres
Jessie Montgomery - Starburst
Sibelius - Pelleas et Melisande (Theme from The Sky at Night)
Missy Mazzoli - Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres
George Dyson - Woodland Suite: III. Moon Fairy
Lord Berners - The Triumph of Neptune Suite: IV. Cloudland
Jonathon Dove - Sunshine
Grofe - Grand Canyon Suite: Sunset
Ross Edwards - Full Moon Dances – Concerto for Alto Saxophone