Arvo Pärt's moving memorial to Benjamin Britten opened the concert. Written shortly after Benjamin Britten's death in 1976, it is a simple work featuring a striking bell which rings at appropriate moments. I had a close friend in London who told me how he had worked with Benjamin Britten staging some of his operas. For me this Cantus in Memoriam was all the more poignant.
Principal Trombone, Dâvus Juul Magnussen, introduced us to the composer, Elena Langer, who gave a brief description of her song cycle, The Lives of Birds. Written with the poet Glyn Maxwell, it was receiving its first performance. She wanted us to know that the lives of birds was just as fascinating as those of humans. Conductor Kristiina Poska brought on stage the highly regarded soprano, Anna Dennis, to sing the eight songs whilst the Orchestra accompanied with as-close-as-possible to birdsong variations as possible.
After the interval Tchaikovksy's Fourth Symphony began with its powerful fate motif - for the composer saw fate as a power that stifles peace and contentment. The second movement moved to melancholia but it was the pizzicato of the third which excited me. Sixty five years ago my viola teacher, Jean Howells, found me lacking in my ability to properly pluck the strings and brought me to the Usher Hall to hear this Symphony. The baton of Kristiina Poska ensured the Finale to be as moving and encouraging to conclude a fine concert.
Event: Friday 20th March 2026 at 7.30pm