Orpheus Concerto by Cimeon Ellerton

The piece has a strong affinity with Prom 30. I have been a fan of Ellington as long as I can remember and I really sympathise with Bernstein's struggle to find favour as both a popular musical theatre composer and as a serious art music composer. Similarly, Prom 31 has strong links with the piece and my music. Gershwin songs have been amongst my favourites since childhood and he too looked to combine popular and art forms. Stravinsky strongly influences my work today, in many ways the melodic flow of the flute solo is influenced by the late writing of Stravinsky.

Orpheus is quite a workout for most sections of the orchestra and as well as borrowing heavily from popular music (groove orientated, bass driven and harmonic) it looks back to early music in its structure, gesture and representation of Orpheus's search to retrieve Euridice from the underworld.