The course of English music is strange.

While it remains one of the driving forces of European musical life, many are of the view that England has not produced an important composer since Henry Purcell. True or not, it is a fact that today’s audience can rarely hear live performances of works composed in the British Isles since the death of the Baroque composer four hundred years ago. Which makes the programme of this concert all the more remarkable in that it is dedicated to British music, with the participation of an internationally famed British conductor. The Brazilian-born pianist performs a concerto composed in 1938 by the then twenty-four-year-old Benjamin Britten. This is flanked by two works written in the 1910s. Bartók and Kodály are both known to have highly regarded Frederick Delius. Elgar gave his work the subtitle “the passionate pilgrimage of the soul” and dedicated it to the memory of King Edward VII.

On Youtube:

– Delius

– Britten

– Elgar