Sunday 23rd November 2025, 4:00pm
The Elgar Sinfonia since 2018 has performed some fifteen concerts, 99% of which have proclaimed British Music. It is its remit to give live performances of many works especially Elgar and Vaughan Williams that may certainly have been recorded but are rarely if ever played live.
The concert in November is no exception. The Vaughan Williams Pastoral Symphony should receive many more performances than it receives. That this work whose title Pastoral denies it’s real message of WW 1 is as profound as any work I know. Holst’s ‘Hammersmith’ reflects and considers, with the ever-flowing Thames, the moods and life there, an area where he taught at St Pauls Girls School for many years. It is a masterpiece, neglected in my view.
I myself have never experience Elgar’s Cello Concerto in the concert hall played on the Viola in the Tertis version approved by the composer. This is rare opportunity to explore the different sounds and colours to be heard; perhaps in a tragic new light.
Adrian Brown Music Director July 2025