Antonn DvokCello Concerto Benjamin BrittenSinfonia da requiem Andrzej PanufnikSinfonia Sacra City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Robert Hodge Cello: Dan Brandon Supported Charity: The Sick Children's Trust Dvorak had composed his New World Symphony shortly before embarking upon the Cello Concerto in B minor, but no hints of America remain. From the opening Slavic chant to the Czech folk themes of the Rondo, Dvorak is firmly back on home soil. The work was warmly endorsed by Brahms, who said Why on earth didnt I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? Had I known, I would have written one long ago. Benjamin Brittens Sinfonia da Requiem was composed in 1940 when the composer was just 26. Although the three movements take their titles from the Latin mass, it is a purely orchestral work written in his early, largely tonal style. The world premiere took place in New York in 1941, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by John Barbirolli, and the works success in America led to Brittens commission to compose the opera Peter Grimes. The Sinfonia Sacra is a symphonic work by Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik, written in 1963 to mark Polands millennium of Christianity and Statehood in 1966. The two sections, Three Visions and Hymn are both based on the Bogurodzica, a plainchant which is the earliest known hymn in Polish. Written in an accessible and popular style, the work received early worldwide critical acclaim and has since attracted the attention of many respected conductors.