Thrilling Beethoven, Butterworth and Vaughan Williams with The Hallé

*THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED*

To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday, is there a more iconic symphony than Beethoven’s Fifth? Over two hundred years after the work’s premiere, its first movement’s ‘fate’ motif remains instantly recognisable. Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé are sure to draw out the work’s superb intensity, force and energy.

There is contrast with George Butterworth’s six poignant settings of poems from A.E. Housman’s ‘A Shropshire Lad’. Having orchestrated these lovely songs himself, Roderick Williams is our esteemed soloist. The ill-fated Butterworth, who was killed on the Somme in 1916, was a pupil of Vaughan Williams. The latter’s Ninth Symphony, completed shortly before its composer’s death, is both highly lyrical and suffused with a mellow glow.

Pre-concert talk with BBC Broadcaster Trisha Cooper starts at 6pm.

Performers

Sir Mark Elder (conductor), Roderick Williams (baritone) and The Hallé

Programme

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
• Butterworth (orch. Roderick Williams): Six Songs from 'A Shropshire Lad'
• Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9