Bbc national orchestra of wales celebrates us independence with tower premiere

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales marked the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence with a series of concerts, headlined by the UK premiere of Love Returns, a new concerto for alto saxophone by 87-year-old American composer Joan Tower.

Love returns steals the show

Tower, best known for her Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, has crafted an uncommonly appealing piece. Its title relates to her use of a melody from the piano piece Love Letter, written in memory of her late husband, as the basis for a theme and variations structure.

Evoking a gradual acceleration in tempo over its six sections, the work departs from conventional concerto form only in the fifth, a solo saxophone cadenza, breathtakingly delivered by Steven Banks.

Banks' tone veered from edgy to honeyed, whirling virtuoso passages countered by aching lyricism, all balanced perfectly by conductor Tomas Djupsjöbacka's orchestral textures.

Classic pairing follows

The second half saw Weber's Second Symphony in C major and Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, a witty pairing.

BBCNOW's wind players reveled in Weber's felicitous instrumentation and operatic verve, while Djupsjöbacka made a strong case for the rarely programmed symphony.

Hindemith's 1943 work, a reimagining of Weber themes more than a faithful tribute, is a concerto for orchestra, with each section taking its turn in the spotlight.

While noisy and occasionally vulgar, much of it is plain fun, a quality not often associated with Hindemith.

Opening the performance was Britten's An American Overture, an early work he'd considered dead and buried until it was unearthed in the New York Public Library.

Committed pacifist Britten would surely have been mortified to find it here, at a time of Trumpian war-mongering.

This concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on March 26.