Messiaen and Mozart were but 22 years of age when they composed the works featured in this programme! In Messiaen’s music, there is a sense of religious contemplation, suggestive of brilliant blue skies. The oboist, Gabriel Pidoux, who will interpret Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, won the Instrumental Soloist Revelation Prize at France’s Victoires de la Musique Competition, and has made a name for himself as one of the younger generation’s greatest talents. Lastly, after having spent almost 20 years writing his first symphony, Brahms took only a few months to complete his Symphony No.2. In contrast to the brightness of Messiaen, Brahms’s symphony is a stark reminder that shadows lurk nearby.