An evening of music and readings for Armistice Day.

Programme

George Butterworth Two English Idylls and The Banks of Green Willow

Richard Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1

Essa-Pekka Salonen Concert étude

Dmitri Shostakovich Chamber Symphony in C minor

Tess Jackson conductor
Ben Goldscheider horn

Poetry and prose read by Sir Ben Okri

An evening of music and readings that provides space for reflection while reminding us that mankind’s capacity for creating art of extraordinary beauty endures even the darkest of times.

The concert opens with the first and last orchestral works by George Butterworth, a composer whose folk-tune filled music has come to symbolise the sacrifice made by his generation and who himself was killed fighting in the Battle of the Somme.

Strauss’s Horn Concerto No 1 is a wonderfully melodic and virtuosic showcase for the horn with fanfares, hunting calls and a poignantly lyrical, contemplative second movement.

Readings and poems begin the second half and are followed by Ben Goldscheider performing Finnish composer Essa-Pekka Salonen’s posthumous tribute to his beloved horn teacher from within the audience. That leads into the final piece, Shostakovich’s spirited symphony for strings dedicated to ‘the victims of fascism and war’.

Tickets from £15, available below. 

https://www.chromaticaorchestra.com/concerts/music-readings-armistice-day/