Forty years ago, John Williams was already hugely well-known to audiences in America and around the world. By 1984, he had already composed dozens of film scores, including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Star Wars, E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
With the nation going to the polls this week, 76% of adults would like to see the next Government do more to support arts and culture in Britain – with a specific focus on young people, a democratisation of access and more music lessons in primary schools seen to be key priorities, according to new research from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).
On Sunday 9 June the Orchestra performed the final concert of our 2023–24 Icons Rediscovered series with Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Elgar's Falstaff, conducted by Music Director Vasily Petrenko. It capped off our exploration of the two late-Romantic composers who came from worlds apart, but both had an extraordinary gift for melody and a deeply-felt nostalgia for a world that was rapidly fading upon the coming of modernity.
Following the death of our Sub-Principal Oboe Tim Watts, his colleagues in the Orchestra share tributes to the player who dedicated many years of his life to the RPO and was a dear friend to us.
