Ralph Vaughan Williams
Concerto grosso für Streichorchester

Benjamin Britten
Konzert für Violine und Orchester, op. 15

INTERMISSION

Edward Elgar
„Enigma-Variationen“, op. 36

A very British evening: Stephanie Childress, a young conductor from London, performs works by three of her fellow countrymen.

For a five-movement work commissioned by the Rural School Music Association in 1950, Ralph Vaughan Williams took on a baroque concerto grosso in his very own musical language. This allowed him to divide the musicians taking part in the concerto - mostly beginners, some advanced players and only a few who had mastered their string instrument to a high standard - into the groups “concertino”, “ripiendo” and “ad lib”. The latter group only played on empty strings, which, according to the composer, could be omitted if necessary.
The soloist in Britten's highly demanding Violin Concerto from 1939 is 23-year-old Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut, who our audience already celebrated in the Great Hall in 2016 and 2019.
Edward Elgar's famous “Enigma Variations”, premiered in 1899, characterize thirteen people from his circle and ultimately himself. But their identity is not the original “Enigma”. According to the composer, the structure conceals a kind of musical riddle, about which various theories have been put forward to date.