Simon Russell Beale presents a radical reappraisal of the place of the symphony in the modern world and explores the surprising way in which it has shaped our history and identity

Simon Russell Beale presents a radical reappraisal of the place of the symphony in the modern world and explores the surprising way in which it has shaped our history and identity.The first episode begins amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution with the arrival in England of Joseph Haydn, dubbed the \'Father of the Symphony\'.

Simon Russell Beale looks at the symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz and Liszt.

How nationalist voices such as Dvorak and Sibelius took the symphony to wider audiences.

Simon Russell Beale\'s journey takes him into the 20th century, a time when the certainties of empire were falling away, war was looming and the world was changing faster than ever before.