Composer

‘Here is enshrined the soul of …’ Elgar never revealed the inspiration behind his Violin Concerto, but the music tells its own story – a tale of whispered secrets and soaring romance that could have been written for the glorious sound of violinist Christian Tetzlaff.

Karina Canellakis Conducts Beethoven

Southbank Centre

‘Here is enshrined the soul of …’ Elgar never revealed the inspiration behind his Violin Concerto, but the music tells its own story – a tale of whispered secrets and soaring romance that could have been written for the glorious sound of violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Beethoven’s Fifth is a bit more direct: its world-famous opening is just the start of a truly epic struggle from tragedy to triumph. Written as his hearing failed and his world narrowed, the Symphony turned personal loss into defiant purpose, finding meaning through music when almost everything else was gone. And no-one knows what to expect, just yet, from Dai Fujikura’s new piece, though on his current form it should be very striking indeed. A night to remember from the LPO’s dynamic Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis.

Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven

The first evening of the two-part Gilded Age recital series curated by Artistic Advisor Daniel Hope, explores how European musical refinement met American reinvention around the turn of the 20th century.

EPSG:4326

Daniel Hope & Maxim Lando

The Barns At Wolf Trap

A tour of England’s many musical characters: warmth in Anna Clyne’s Within Her Arms, a loving ode to her late mother; sparkle and bite in Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto, championed by soloist Leif Ove Andsnes; and noble humanity in Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, an affectionate series of portraits with the famous “Nimrod” at its heart. | Join us for a pre-concert talk 1 hour before most performances.

Enigma Variations & Britten

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

LSO and guest conductor Andrew Grams are joined by concertmaster Anton Miller for Max Bruch’s energetic and virtuosic Scottish Fantasy. After intermission, LSO will perform either Edward Elgar’s Nimrod from his Enigma Variations OR Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King – you decide with your vote! Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 closes this program.

Violin Fantasy

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Franz Schubert - Symphony in B minor D. 759 "Unfinished"; Aaron Copland - Lincoln Portrait with Hon. Bruce Harrell, speaker; Edward Elgar - Variations on an Original Theme 'Enigma'

Enigma

Town Hall

Elgar’s Enigma Variations describe ‘the friends pictured within’, brought to musical life through foibles, fancies and frolics. Before it we’ll hear Dorothy Howell’s Lamia, itself the description of an ill-fated love.

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra

Stoller Hall, Manchester

An evening of music framed by Elgar, the composer who has captured the essence of England in music more resonantly than any other. Elgar’s Sospiri is a love-sick Adagio while his Symphony No. 1 appears to carry the hopes of a troubled nation in music of deep longing and optimism. As the composer who has inherited Elgar’s mantle in England, Thomas Adès also conducts his own Dawn – an intense meditation on cycles of time, light and renewal and a masterpiece in miniature. In this concert, it forms the missing link before Kurtág’s Movement for Viola and Orchestra – a grippingly physical opening to a full concerto, the rest of which was scrapped.

Thomas Adès conducts

University of Oxford

New York & South America tour

Julio Prestes

Symphonic Sketches is a concert full of musical “pictures,” with each piece telling its own story and capturing a different feeling or moment. You’ll hear the lively, joyful energy of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, the warm and nostalgic feel of Godfrey Ridout’s Fall Fair, and the bold, uplifting sounds of Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, along with the powerful and familiar Jerusalem by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. The concert wraps up with the rich, dramatic music of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. It’s a program that’s easy to enjoy, whether you’re hearing this music for the first time or coming back to favourites you already love.

Symphonic Sketches

The Machine Shop

Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo

Berliner Philharmoniker Kirill Petrenko conductor

Carnegie Hall

MOZART & BERLIOZ

Koncertsalen Alsion

Løgumkloster Kirke

Neil Thomson conducts Rimsky-Korsakov, Rodrigo and Elgar

Teatro Malibran

Mahler Symphony No 4 & Elgar Cello Concerto

St Peter ad Vincula Church

BBC Concert Orchestra leader Nathaniel Anderson-Frank makes his Royal College of Music debut with a riveting concert of string works, including the vivid Sea Sketches by Grace Williams.

RCM String Orchestra

Royal College of Music

Elgar's beloved Enigma Variations are one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire, and with good reason. Packed full of memorable melodies, each variation of the theme is a musical portrait of Elgar's friends and family. Tonight, CBSO Collaborative Artist Jess Gillam is on the mic, guiding us through an unforgettable musical journey. A concert experience guaranteed to move you.

First Listen: Elgar

Symphony Hall in Birmingham

Kodály’s Dances of Galánta launches the program with rhythmic bite and radiant color, followed by Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1. Elgar’s Enigma Variations concludes with sharply etched musical portraits and a commanding orchestral finish.

Strauss + Elgar

Morris Performing Arts Center

Gabetta, known for the characterful energy of her playing as much as for her formidable technique, is the Philharmonia’s Featured Artist for the 2026/27 season.

Santtu & Sol Gabetta

Daniel Müller-Schott & Elgars Cellokoncert

Lose yourself in Elgar’s dark yet lyrical Cello Concerto. Written in the aftermath of World War I, this melancholy piece will break your heart and leave you breathless—an “autumnal” meditation to welcome fall.

Elgar’s Cello Concerto & Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5

Salt Palace Convention Center

The season starts with a mysterious masterpiece full of ‘dark sayings’. The theme, Elgar insisted, must be left unguessed and still baffles sleuths today, yet lies at the heart of one of the greatest works in British orchestral music. Our Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze explores the uncracked code in his introduction to, and performance of, Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Elegance, flair and passion follow with cellist Guy Johnston as soloist in Benjamin Britten’s only truly symphonic work. And Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, written in a flash of white-hot inspiration, kicks things off in celebratory style.

Season Opening Concert: Unveiling the Enigma

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

The opening of the 2026/2027 season takes you on a musical journey across stormy seas, through sparkling nightscapes and symphonic dances with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, and the legendary soprano Nina Stemme. Here, the musical sea interpretations of British composers Ethel Smyth, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar meet with the Russian sonorous and dancing energy of Sergei Rachmaninov. A concert where natural forces, emotional storms and symphonic brilliance meet.

Sea Music and Symphonic Dances

Berwaldhallen

Festival tour BBC Proms, LondonFestival

Royal Albert Hall

The Berliner Philharmoniker and Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko open the Usher Hall series with Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’.

Berliner Philharmoniker: Elgar & Tchaikovsky

Usher Hall

Festival tour Edinburgh International Festival

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

At this concert, you might just solve a mystery. On 19 June 1899, Edward Elgar scored an unprecedented triumph with the world premiere of his Enigma Variations. The event was hailed as the rebirth of English music, which for two centuries — ever since the death of Henry Purcell — had played little role on the international stage. Only one thing puzzled listeners: what was the theme Elgar had actually varied in his masterpiece? The composer stubbornly refused to divulge it, and speculation ran wild. Was it the British national anthem? Rule, Britannia!? Or the folk tune Auld Lang Syne? To this day, no one has cracked the secret . . . Tchaikovsky, by contrast, left no questions unanswered with regard to his Fourth Symphony: he spelled out its program exactly.

Berliner Philharmoniker | Kirill Petrenko

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

Festival tour Lucerne Festival

Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre

Festive closing concert of the Musikalischer Sommer in Ostfriesland, performed by the Festivalorchester with cellist Alexander Wollheim.

17th Closing Concert with the Festival Orchestra

JaL Bibliothek

Kirill Petrenko launches the new season with two works that are both sumptuous and rhapsodic. Beneath their radiant surfaces, however, lie hidden messages.  Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations are built not only on a deeply expressive theme, but also on encoded musical portraits of friends and family members. Pyotr Tchaikovsky, meanwhile, threads his Symphony No. 4 with a “fate motif” – a musical allusion to the life crises that accompanied him during the composition of the work. While there are moments of brightness, they are overshadowed by the spectre of impending misfortune.

Season Opening Kirill Petrenko conducts Elgar and Tchaikovsky

Berliner Philharmoniker

The Orchestra of the FNO has enchanted audiences for more than 60 years. Since 2024, its concerts have also delighted listeners at Musiikkitalo.

Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera @ Musiikkitalo

Musiikkitalo Concert Hall

Five voices, one sound of timeless beauty: the Leipzig vocal ensemble amarcord devotes its new programme "Immortal Beauty" to the immortality of beauty, in music, nature and human experience.

13 AMARCORD: "IMMORTAL BEAUTY"

St. Magnus Kirche

06 Evening Concert. Program: Mozart String Quintet in G minor KV 516; Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor op. 84.

Krigslykke

Stavanger Cathedral

Depicting a man’s final hours on earth and his soul’s journey to judgement, The Dream of Gerontius contains some of Elgar’s most moving and powerful music, from the quiet but fervent opening to the sublime ‘Angel’s Farewell’. Life and death, angels and demons, love and faith, all are explored in heart-rending music that Elgar himself described as “the best of me”.

Three Choirs Festival: The Dream of Gerontius

Gloucester Cathedral

Sheku Kanneh-Mason catapulted to stardom after his performance at the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan. But it’s his superb musicianship that has led him to work with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, including our own Chief Conductor Simone Young.

Simone Young & Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Sydney Opera House

Simone Young demonstrates her mastery of the music of Richard Strauss in the vast An Alpine Symphony. Experience the power of this evocative ascent, from majestic daybreak to triumphant summit, complete with a thunderous storm.

For Schools: Open Rehearsal with Simone Young

In anticipation of the forthcoming 200th anniversary of Gloucester Docks, experience the majesty of the sea in tonight’s dramatic concert from the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra.

Three Choirs Festival: Songs of the Sea

Experience the power of Janáček’s dramatic Glagolitic Mass as the Festival Chorus and Philharmonia Orchestra bring this magnificent work to life. Listen out for joyful fanfares, vibrant colour, and thrilling organ solos played by young American virtuoso Katelyn Emerson.

Three Choirs Festival: Glagolitic Mass

Dramatic, thrilling, magnificent – we open the 2026 Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester with a concert full of dazzling music.

Three Choirs Festival: Belshazzar’s Feast

Join the NYOS Development orchestra for an enchanting evening at Perth Concert Hall. This July, they celebrate British orchestral voices, performing works from Holst, Grace Williams, and Elgar. Opening with a mystic dance for the spirits of earth, fire andwater, Holst’s The Perfect Fool conjures scenes of sorcery and mischief through vivid orchestration and bold musical gestures. Grace Williams’ symphonic poem Penillion follows, a lush evocation of Wales’s verdant landscapes and proud folk tradition. Turning a corner in the programme, Elgar’s fin-de-siècle masterstroke Enigma Variations closes the performances. A cornerstone of the British orchestral repertoire, Elgar’s variations distil the personality of his inner circle through richly expressive, often playful musical ideas. This promises to be a rousing showcase of Scotland’s brightest young musicians.

NYOS Development Orchestra 2026

Perth Concert Hall

The Folkestone Symphony Orchestra returns with another of its much-loved Summer Prom concerts, raising funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, kindly sponsored by The Brelade-Harman Trust.

Folkestone Symphony Summer Prom Concert

Leas Cliff Hall

Elena Urioste and Tom Poster explore an idea first floated in The Jukebox Series, their compelling pandemic project to bring together works united by shared threads of beauty and authentic expression rather than their relationship to any -ism or arbitrary historical period. The mood for each half of their recital is set by impassioned works by Mark Simpson and Clarice Assad, both created for the duo during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Elena Urioste violin; Tom Poster piano

Wigmore Hall

The programme is a love letter to 20th-century song in all its forms. 

From the soaring romanticism of Alma Mahler and Richard Strauss to the bittersweet elegance of Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, this concert brings together worlds that rarely meet. 

You’ll hear music from beloved films and musicals alongside lush orchestral arrangements of song cycles and solo pieces all carefully curated to tell a story that is moving, varied and richly expressive.

Fantasia Orchestra with Niamh O’Sullivan

Smith Square Hall

Conductor Laureate Carlos Kalmar returns to the Festival with the technically brilliant pianist Olga Kern for Rachmaninov’s highly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 3. The program also features Stravinsky’s mischievously charming ballet Game of Cards and Elgar’s sunny In the South.

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3

Millennium Park

Amicus Orchestra are delighted to present this programme in collaboration with flautist Caglayan Barbaros.

Amicus Orchestra & Caglayan Barbaros

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ monumental »Sea Symphony« merges solos, choir and orchestra into an ode to the sea and the longing for distant shores. This symphony is full of indulgent romantic exuberance and yet is far more than just a musical description of nature. It deals with the fundamental questions of human existence, which the American poet Walt Whitman expresses with enormous linguistic power. For him, the sea itself is a symbol – of the innermost self that man can and must discover and explore, just as he explores the sea.

Choir St. Michaelis / Ensemble Reflektor / Jörg Endebrock

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Following our captivating performance at Halifax Minster in 2025, we are delighted to return to Halifax as part of our ongoing commitment to Culturedale and our work with UNESCO’s Seeds of Hope initiative.

As echoes of The Lark Ascending continue to resonate across the town, we look forward to bringing another vibrant programme of string repertoire to the Victoria Theatre, celebrating the very best of English music alongside inspiring works from around the world. The programme includes Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves, Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, and Grieg’s much-loved Holberg Suite.

We are especially pleased to premiere a new arrangement of Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances and to share the stage with talented young musicians from the Calderdale Music Youth Ensemble. This special concert provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase our award-winning work with schools and community groups across the region before we return to Calderdale again in August.

Close Encounters: Beyond the Lark

Victoria Theatre Halifax

Miniatures

Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz

Edinburgh-based Ninfea-Cruttwell-Reade, a Royal Philharmonic Society featured composer, won ardent admirers in 2025 with her Piano Concerto and motet for The Sixteen, The Call of Gideon. The Carducci Quartet and Tom Poster, persuasive and committed advocates of contemporary compositions, give the first performance of her new piano quintet, conceived for Wigmore Hall Voices of Today to mark the Hall’s 125th anniversary.

Carducci String Quartet; Tom Poster piano

The Concert: Tchaikovsky juggles beauty and suffering as Elgar paints affectionate portraits of friends and family.

On Tour in Litomyšl

Smetana's Litomyšl

Sir Simon Rattle | The Dream of Gerontius

Munich Residence

Ottobeuren Abbey

The American cellist Seth Parker Woods and the Ensemble Resonanz bring six voices to life that connect with each other across time and borders. They tell of struggle and loss, of rebellion and hope, of fractures and the attempt to heal them. Memory is their common foundation.

Ensemble Resonanz / Seth Parker Woods

ENGLAND AND EMPIRE with RAPHAEL WALLFISCH cello

Dorchester Abbey

A free open-air concert in the heart of London, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, featuring movements from Holst's The Planets, the world premiere of Louise Drewett's Four Dances, and excerpts from Elgar's Enigma Variations.

BMW Classics 2026

Trafalgar Square

Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s ever-popular “Good Music for Kids” concert series returns, this time guiding you and your family through the wonders of mother nature encapsulated in fine works of music by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Grieg and more. Performed under the baton of Singaporean conductor Lien Boon-hua, feel how the music magically conjures the warmth of the afternoon sun, the spring breeze carrying the happy chirping of birds, the freezing cold of winter, the frolicking of freshly bloomed flowers… and you will learn to appreciate music and the beautiful world we live in even more.

Good Music for Kids (3-6 years old)

Hong Kong City Hall

Its lofty vision, its inexhaustible melodic flow and the lively writing of the solo instrument, playing breathlessly for forty-five minutes, have made Elgar's Concerto a touchstone of the cello repertoire. In 1919, it closed the illustrious career of a composer inseparable from the Victorian era. Could his compatriot Anna Clyne have inherited the passion and pomp of this predecessor? His festive Masquerade , written for the Last Night of the Proms, has something to conquer all audiences. It will be another instrumental celebration with the new concerto for orchestra by the royal Thierry Escaich.

Elgar, Cello Concerto / Kian Soltani

Maison de la Radio et de la Musique

Rousing. Moving. Idyllic. Mahler carries us from deep despair to joyful optimism, and Elgar paints affectionate portraits of friends and family. Dedicated to Michael Tilson Thomas.

Elgar and Mahler

Barbican Centre

Friendship and love underpin Elgar’s orchestral work, written in 1899. Each variation on the main theme is a tender, often gently mocking, portrait of a friend or family member. The ‘Enigma’ or mystery surrounding the origin of the theme is still unsolved.

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Enigma Variations

Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.

Half Six Fix: Enigma Variations

Adrian Wittmer, bassoon

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Is there an English sound we can all agree on? Of course not. But at least we can celebrate the music of English composers and how they have depicted the country over time. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending is enduringly popular as a portrait of rural England. But it was written amongst military manoeuvres preparing for World War I and so must be heard as much as a heartbreaking piece about loss as it is some depiction of bucolic Albion. Our leader, Sophie Rosa, is our violin soloist. If you’ve heard Sophie before you know what a treat you’re in for, and if you haven’t then you really wouldn’t want to miss this performance

We also have music by two composers who bookend the idea of English classical music. Henry Purcell wrote wild, emotive music for both the palaces and backstreets of early 17th century London. Edward Elgar is the composer we associate with pomp and circumstance and the rigour of Empire. But actually no – listen to Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and you can hear the same raw emotion of Purcell. Maybe the English aren’t so straight laced after all!

The Lark Ascending

Derby Cathedral

There’s a good reason why Elgar’s Cello Concerto is a classic: deep emotions surge beneath its haunted surface and if anyone can uncover them it’s our soloist, the remarkable Kian Soltani. Today, it’s just one stage on an emotional odyssey devised by our Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn: a voyage that embraces the infinite longing of George Crumb and Richard Wagner, the volcanic grief of Benjamin Britten, and Scriabin’s final, multicoloured starburst of pure sonic bliss. Join us and be transported.

Elgar’s Cello Concerto

Stewart Bridgeforth, bass trombone

Yo-Yo Ma takes the stage with conductor James Gaffigan and the San Francisco Symphony for one night only. Written in the aftermath of World War I, Elgar’s Cello Concerto is an urgent elegy, a late-life affirmation of Englishness. Also heard on the program is Mozart’s final symphony, the majestic Jupiter.

Yo-Yo Ma with the San Francisco Symphony

Davies Symphony Hall

With Casual Conversations, you'll witness the world-class artistry of your BSO while gaining deeper insights into the music's context and inspiration. Perfect for new listeners and curious BSO fans alike, this innovative series invites you to reflect on the beauty of live classical music.

Casual Conversations: Heyward Conducts Enigma Variations

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

SF Philharmonic and Anne Richardson

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

England’s musical tradition is like a parchment on which voices have been superimposed over the centuries – from the Renaissance to the present day, from Thomas Tallis to Edward Elgar and Joanna Marsh. The RIAS Chamber Choir from Berlin and the Ensemble Resonanz make these layers resound and address the questions of farewell and transience as part of the International Music Festival »Ende«. An evening of requiem-like depth, in which the past resonates and the present pauses.

Ensemble Resonanz / RIAS Chamber Choir Berlin / Justin Doyle

Two exciting young musicians are the stars of our seventh Friday concert : cellist Anastasia Kobekina and conductor Nil Venditti, making their debuts with the Beethoven Orchestra. The Turkish-Italian conductor Nil Venditti has selected a program of opulent, large-scale orchestral music, juxtaposing English and Italian works from the pre-World War II era: the festive Concert Overture by the recently rediscovered Grace Williams from 1932 and Ottorino Respighi's Feste Romane from 1928. Anastasia Kobekina has been the rising star of the cello scene in recent years.

Large images

Beethoven Hall

“Here is enshrined the soul of…” This mysterious note, scribbled by Elgar opposite the title page of his Violin Concerto, sets the tone for an unforgettable end to the Season. Journey from the deeply introspective beauty of Elgar’s concerto to the playful charm of Vaughan Williams’s Wasps Overture and the sweeping grandeur of Strauss’s Viennese gem Der Rosenkavalier. This concert is a celebration of life’s full emotional spectrum – joy, sorrow, love and everything in between.

Soul Music

Belfast

“Here is enshrined the soul of…” This mysterious note, scribbled by Elgar opposite the title page of his Violin Concerto, sets the tone for an unforgettable end to the Season. Journey from the deeply introspective beauty of Elgar’s concerto to the playful charm of Vaughan Williams’s Wasps Overture and the sweeping grandeur of Strauss’s Viennese gem Der Rosenkavalier. This concert is a celebration of life’s full emotional spectrum - joy, sorrow, love and everything in between.

Ulster Orchestra: Soul Music

Waterfront Hall

The serene, pastoral beauty of England emerges through Coleridge-Taylor’s spiritual-inspired Violin Concerto, performed by signature interpreter Elena Urioste, and the grandeur of Elgar’s Enigma Variations. With expressive strings, warm brass, and idyllic melodies, this program highlights the orchestra's depth and expressiveness.

Heyward Conducts Enigma Variations

The Music Center at Strathmore

Artist-in-Residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins conductor Elim Chan for the aching beauty of Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The Orchestra also performs selections from Prokofiev’s Cinderella — a harmonically rich, at times whimsical ballet not often heard in an orchestral setting — plus the New York Premiere of Noriko Koide’s Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain, with textures as delicate as the title suggests.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason Plays Elgar

David Geffen Hall

The London Philharmonic Orchestra perform at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele.

Principal Conductor Edward Gardner conducts Elgar’s grandiose First Symphony and is joined by superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti for Elgar’s Violin Concerto.

Dresdner Musikfestspiele

Palace of Culture

Schoenberg was one of the most revolutionary & challenging composers, but his early works are among the most lyrical & romantic pieces ever written. Mahler’s heart-rending Adagietto needs little introduction and is regularly in the Top 40 of Classic FM’s annual Hall of Fame, while Schoenberg’s impassioned Transfigured Night is a musical realisation of a Richard Dehmel poem, in which a young woman confesses to her betrothed that she bears another man’s child, conceived before they met. His acceptance of her, and resolve to raise the baby as theirs, is one of the most touching moments in classical music.

English Symphony Orchestra Residency: Schoenberg, Mahler, Elgar, Taylor & Copland

Cheltenham Town Hall

The theme of the 2025/26 Orchestra Unwrapped concerts is centered around the history of the Philharmonia Orchestra, which was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge and celebrates its 80th birthday in 2025. Legge worked for a company called EMI, who was responsible for making recordings of classical music. 

The pieces you’ll hear take us on a journey through time linking to the exciting history of the Philharmonia, from 1945 to today – a history you are all part of by being part of Orchestra Unwrapped in its 80th year!

Bedford: Orchestra Unwrapped

Bedford Corn Exchange

Mahler was unaware that he would not live past the age of 50 when he composed Symphony No. 9. Many have espoused that every bar is filled with a sense of foreboding and despair, but Mahler's dualism is ever-present. When he's happy, he's sad. When he's tragic, he's hopeful. We open the concert with Brinton Smith performing Elgar's Cello Concerto, the visionary work which saw Elgar exploring a more intimate and compact, musical language following the cataclysm of World War I.

Composer

Edward Elgar

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 20, 2026 - Mar 9, 2027

Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera @ Musiikkitalo · Finnish National Opera and Ballet

Nov 7, 2026

Elgar Piano Quintet · Sheffield Theatres

Nov 8, 2026

Elgar's Dream of Gerontius · Royal Northern Sinfonia

Nov 8, 2026

National Symphony Orchestra ·

Nov 13, 2026

RSNO Season 26-27: Schumann's Piano Concerto · Usher Hall

Past events

Nov 4, 2026

Karina Canellakis Conducts Beethoven · Southbank Centre

Nov 4, 2026

Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven · London Philharmonic Orchestra

About

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