A symphonic exploration | Finchley Symphony Orchestra

We explore a variety of symphonic music from the nineteenth century in the first concert of our season. Dvorák's Symphonic Variations are less well known than his late symphonies but enjoy the same vigorous rhythms and colourful orchestration. The famous conductor Hans Richter wrote to Dvorák that “At the hundreds of concerts which I have conducted during my life, no new work has ever had such a success".

The Swedish composer Franz Berwald is a rarity in the concert hall but his ‘Symphony singulière’, written the same year as the Schumann second, is well worth discovering. Full of originality and surprising Nordic touches it is quite unlike anything else from the time.

Schumann’s second symphony is better known but may still be new to many. Inspired by and imbued with the spirit of Bach it is an optimistic work which belies the composer’s troubled life.

The concert is conducted by our newly appointed music director Tom Hammond.