Soulful Epitaph

Take a musical journey with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday 24 February at Lighthouse. Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth leads a programme of Butterworth, Bridge and Tchaikovsky alongside soloist and BSO Section Principal Cellist, Jesper Svedberg.

Butterworth composed his poignant Rhapsody as an orchestral epilogue to his song settings of the various Housman poems which explore life faced by the spectre of impending mortality. Influenced by Sibelius, Debussy and Vaughan Williams, it is a ravishing epitaph that sings of the tranquil landscape from which it grew.

Bridge’s Oration for cello and orchestra, an expressionist concerto in one movement, alternates ghostly funeral marches with outbursts of terror and indignation. It is both an elegy for the fallen of the First World War and an anguished warning. The cello writing is exceptional – at times a declaiming speaker, at others muttering a train of thought arising from deep within the unconscious.

Tchaikovsky approached his Fifth Symphony from a position of extreme self-doubt, fearing his muse was exhausted. “I am dreadfully anxious to prove not only to others, but also to myself, that I am not yet played out as a composer”. From its first note to last noble chord, it is filled with passionate self-questioning, exposing the soul of a deep and complex man.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Mark Wigglesworth - Conductor
Jesper Svedberg - Cello

Works and composers
Butterworth - A Shropshire Lad: Rhapsody for Orchestra
Bridge - Oration - Concerto Elegiaco
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5

This concert is part of an ongoing series on Wednesday evenings at Lighthouse, Poole. Multibuy discounts are on offer for all concerts booked through the BSO Box Office – so the more you visit, the more you save! They will also be streaming 18 Digital Concerts this season so check out their What’s On page on bsolive.com, to see which concerts you can watch from the comfort of your own home.