Music for a While Subscription series concert

About the programme

Music as a painkiller? Music for a While is just that. Purcell wrote his haunting aria as an interlude for the Duke's Theatre in London. It is a hymn to music itself.

At the centre of this all-British programme is Benjamin Britten, who often referred to Purcell in his work—namely from 1945, when England celebrated the 250th anniversary of Purcell's death. Britten’s Serenade was written shortly before, while he was busy composing his opera Peter Grimes. Britten's cycle is an atmospheric journey through nocturnal enchanted landscapes, and British tenor Ian Bostridge is considered one of its finest interpreters.

With his Sonata for String Orchestra, 70-year-old William Walton drew on a string quartet composed in 1945. The work, commissioned by conductor Neville Marriner, is however more than an arrangement. Walton revised and rewrote vigorously. The result is a mellow piece in late concerto grosso style, with a very English tone.