Playlist: Classical favourites, inspired by Multitudes

Since 2020 the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, one of our Resident Orchestras, has been based at Acland Burghley School in Camden as a ‘creative resident’.

Through this residency, the OAE leads a variety of programmes designed to engage the school’s pupils, and young people across Camden in the world of the orchestra. So, as well as offering students the opportunity to connect with classical music, the OAE’s Dreamchasing Young Producers programme also gives them insight into an orchestra’s many associated vocations, from marketing to stage management, sound and light technicians to project managing and everything in between.

Ahead of this year’s Multitudes – at which the OAE performs works by Vaughan Williams in a special immersive soundscape – the orchestra invited members of their Dreamchasing Young Producers to engage with the festival by crafting a playlist of classical music pieces that particularly resonate with them.

You’ll hear this playlist of 42 works in our public spaces before each performance at this year’s Multitudes. Or, you can listen to it here, and read the Dreamchasing Young Producers’ reasons for some of the playlist’s inclusions, below.

‘Blue Danube Waltz’ – J. Strauss

‘I heard this in 2001: A Space Odyssey and I love the way that music about a river is used for things floating in space’ – Armin

‘Romeo and Juliet: Suite No. 2 Montague and Capulets’ – Prokofiev

‘This jumps out at you – it’s music for a fight to the death’ – Boris

‘Ride of the Valkyries’ – Wagner

‘I love this because of the amazing feeling of power – perfect for helicopters in Vietnam!’ – Dmitri

‘Brandenburg Concerto No. 5’ – Bach

‘I like Bach and I love the harpsichord solo in the first movement of this concerto’ – Jess

‘Symphony No. 5: IV Adagietto’ – Mahler

‘It’s just a lovely piece of music’ – Armin; ‘Makes me think of autumn’ – Elliot

‘Turandot, Act III: Nessun Dorma’ – Puccini

‘It tells a powerful story. It’s about passion and skill.’ – Adam

‘Overture: The Wasps’ – Vaughan Williams

‘Sounds good; gassed. I love the high pitched sounds; maybe these are wasps that aren’t going to kill the bees.’ – Tommy

‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ – Korsakov

‘So fast. You can really see the bee flying around’ – Vicky

‘Sandalwood I’ – Jonny Greenwood

‘He was in Radiohead. That’s good enough for me but I like the way he writes music for the violin.’ – Boris

‘Sea Interludes, I. Dawn’ – Britten

‘You can tell straight away that it’s about birds over the sea. You can see the waves.’ – Ursula

‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ – Tchaikovsky

‘It’s magic, winter and Christmas’ – Tommy, Boris and Vicky