TAKE a stroll through London Town with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

They are performing In London Town, otherwise known as the Cockaigne Overture at the Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts on Wednesday January 21 at 7.30pm.

This popular work by Elgar takes us on a trip to Edwardian London, presenting a typical bustling scene with the chimes of Big Ben, the cry of a lavender seller and cockneys. ‘Cockaigne’ is a medieval term to denote a place of excess or gluttony, something that became a humorous nickname for London.

Following this rousing opening piece, we depart for Russia and Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto.

He was just 17 when he began work on it, with the premiere taking place in Moscow in 1892, performed by the composer himself.

But he was never really happy with the work, so in 1917 he set to work on radically altering its shape. This has left us with a quintessential Rachmaninov concerto.

The final work in the BSO’s ‘London Town’ concert is Vaughan Williams’ Second Symphony.

Actual London sounds emerge from this exquisitely woven musical tapestry, as they do in the opening movement, where the chimes of Big Ben can be heard in the distance.

The beautiful second move-ment was said by the composer to depict “Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon”.

Later on a solo viola sings “Sweet lavender, who will buy sweet lavender?” accompanied by the distant sounds of hansom cabs. This is a work that Vaughan Williams felt he had never bettered.

This performance will be the first time Andrew Litton, now the BSO Conductor Laureate, has conducted Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No.2, although he has long been a champion of British classical music.

Andrew Litton has recorded more about his thoughts on this work in an interview with Nigel Gayler, which can be listened to on the BSO SoundCloud profile, the link to which can be found at bsolive.co.uk.

London Town is on Wednesday January 21 at Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts at 7.30pm.