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Friday Night is Music Night comes to Portsmouth!

Expect sea songs, swashbucklers and silver screen magic, as the BBC Concert Orchestra drops anchor in Pompey to celebrate 100 years of Portsmouth becoming a city.

Friday Night is Music Night – and how! For more than seventy years, it’s been BBC radio’s weekly celebration of great tunes, good times and that unmistakable Friday feeling. And tonight it sets sail for Portsmouth; on board, a whole shipload of Pompey and circumstance from presenter Katie Derham, maestro Ellie Slorach and the fabulous BBC Concert Orchestra.

Naturally, there’ll be a local twist, from the riotous sounds of Walton’s Portsmouth Point to the music of Portsmouth’s very own Freda Swain.

Sea songs go without saying – swashbuckling yarns and traditional hornpipes from Korngold, David Lyon and more. There’s the magic of Mozart, from the BBC Concert Orchestra’s Principal Horn Andrew Littlemore, and a salute to the city’s greatest literary son, as the orchestra remembers famous movies inspired by Charles Dickens.

Classic melodies, big screen memories and great music in a live recording for BBC Radio 3. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a big night out in Portsmouth!

This evening’s concert programme includes:
Williams                           Signature Tune
Walton                              Portsmouth Point
Mozart                              Horn Concerto No.2
Arnold (arr.Lane)             Suite from David Copperfield (1969)
Carlo Martelli                   Promenade

Korngold                          Sea Hawk
Paul Lewis                        An English Overture
Debbie Wiseman             Theme from Dickensian
Rachel Portman              End Credits “Newgate Prison” (Oliver Twist 2005)
David Lyon                      Three Dances
Swain                               The Lion of England: Ceremonial March
Williams                           Closing Signature

An exhibition detailing Freda Swain’s profound impact on the musical world will be available to view in the Guildhall’s Freda Swain Lounge pre-show and in the interval: Freda Swain: Portsmouth’s Unsung Composer

Times advertised are door times