Concert

Edward Elgar’s Froissart Overture is an early work, crammed with musical energy and joie-de-vivre, at the same time offering pointers to the style of the mature Elgar. Like his later overtures, it is generous in length and variety. Inspired by the words of Keats, ‘When chivalry lifted up her lance on high…’, and imbued with knightly gestures and imagery, it was described by Elgar himself as ‘good, healthy stuff’.

The CCSO is delighted to welcome the outstanding horn player, Ben Goldscheider of BBC Young Musician 2016 fame, to lead in Richard Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto. Ben’s sparkling biography assures us that this virtuosic work is in safe hands, and that listeners are in for two treats: fine playing and richly pleasing music. The concerto was one of Strauss’s last compositions and harks back wistfully to earlier styles including that of his First Horn Concerto.

Johannes Brahms’s Fourth Symphony matches all the brilliance and profundity of his three earlier symphonies. Some suggest that it even outshines the others. Be that as it may, this superbly crafted masterpiece returns to bewitch us with its combination of deep expression coupled to faultless musical architecture. The last movement is of special interest because it is the first well-known example of a passacaglia being used in symphonic music. The bass line and harmony of the short opening phrase serves as the foundation for over 30 linked variations cunningly crafted to encompass other musical forms and devices.

Ticket Information

Admission: £18, £16 (concessions), £8 (students), £5 (under 14)