Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra plays music that explores the beauty of the natural world.
Programme:
BAX Tintagel
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Sussex Landscape, Op. 27
IVES The Unanswered Question
SIBELIUS Symphony No.2 in D major
Opening with Arnold Bax's magnificent tone poem Tintagel inspired by a visit to Tintagel Castle, in North Cornwall in 1917. The piece is not explicitly programmatic, however it is one of the great seascapes in the orchestral repertoire and it is not difficult to hear parts of the music which reflect the crashing waves and the impression of the cliffs and castle of Tintagel.
The orchestra will then travel east across the south coast to Sussex; the home of pianist, composer and conductor Avril Coleridge-Taylor (daughter of British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor). Her Sussex Landscape (1940) presents a distinct perspective of the southern county at a time of great conflict. The minor quality of the piece paints melancholic scenes of the peaceful countryside as it is consumed by the tidings of conflict.
Then to early twentieth century New York with the music of organist and insurance salesman, Charles Ives. Ives described his 1908 The Unanswered Question as a “cosmic landscape” in which a trumpet repeatedly poses 'the perennial question of existence'.
Finally, the Orchestra heads to Northern Europe. Sibelius had a profound relationship with nature, and this became reflected in his deeply personal musical style rooted in the geography of his homeland of Finland. His breathtaking Second Symphony remains one of his most popular works.
