English Symphony Orchestra

Elgar – Serenade for Strings
Matthew Taylor – Romance for Strings
Copland – Clarinet Concerto
Mahler – Adagietto from Symphony No.5
Schoenberg – Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night)

Kenneth Woods, conductor

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.