Elgar, Mozart and Dvořák in Eastbourne concert

The Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra’s autumn concert starts at 7pm on Sunday, October 29 in St Saviour’s Church, Eastbourne, BN21 4UT. Tickets: WeGotTickets (£14); Reid & Dean, 43-45 Cornfield Road, BN21 4QG; (£14; £12 for ESO Friends; cash only; opening times may vary); on the door (£15; £13 for ESO Friends).

After the first rehearsal, musical director Graham Jones said how much he and the players were looking forward to an evening of some of the best in classical music; challenging, yes, but with some memorable and well-known moments.

Graham points to the opening piece where, he says, Elgar found solace after the death of his wife in 1920 in arranging Handel’s overture to Chandos Anthem No 2. Having known the piece since a little boy, Elgar had always wanted to hear it in a large form, and he conducted the first performance of his arrangement at the Worcester Festival in 1923.

This year’s winner of Eastbourne’s piano competition, the Norah Sande Award, is Julian Chan who is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music. He is developing a reputation as one of the most innovative pianists of his generation. A keen composer and performer of new music, he had his first book of compositions published aged six, earning him the title of Malaysia’s Youngest Composer. Julian said: ‘I was honoured to win the Norah Sande Award earlier this year, performing a varied programme including some hidden gems by composers such as Couperin and Rzewski to a very appreciative audience. It was my first time in Eastbourne, and I am excited to be back later this month to perform Mozart's Coronation Concerto.”

Written in 1788, just three years before his death, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 26 is a first for the orchestra who are enjoying getting to know the work. “It’s the epitome of Mozartian elegance,” says Graham. “Though premiered in 1789 in Dresden, the coronation title took hold after a performance in 1790 in Frankfurt which Mozart visited during Leopold II’s celebrations on becoming Holy Roman Emperor.”

Julian added: “This is an incredibly exciting work with many interesting melodic and harmonic twists and turns. For much of the piano writing, Mozart leaves out the left-hand part so that the performer has the additional job of improvising a part to accompany the right hand. This additional complexity is perhaps the reason that this masterpiece is less heard compared to some of his other piano concertos. Its riveting writing and charming melodies and the added element of a spontaneous left-hand part will, I hope, add yet more to that electricity that comes with hearing a live performance. I look forward very much to offering that to the Eastbourne audience.”

Dvořák’s New World Symphony which ends the concert is a piece which Graham Jones admires, and this is the fifth time he has conducted it: “Dvořák shows himself here to be a master of his craft. It’s a piece with thoroughly enjoyable melodies. It’s probably Dvořák’s best-known work not only from his American period but from all his output. Though the melodies are his own, Dvořák was inspired by negro spirituals and the music of the native Americans some of which has a distinctive Scottish flavour. The largo, of course, is well known for its association with the television advert first aired in 1973 showing a young boy pushing a bike loaded with bread up a cobbled hill.”