Rhys Concessao (piano) plays Beethoven / George Lloyd's Symphony No 4

We continue our theme of 'Fourths', and of championing British music, with George Lloyd's Fourth Symphony. For the first public performance in 1981, Lloyd wrote these words:

"On the title page of my Fourth Symphony I wrote "... a world of darkness, storms, strange colours and a far-away peacefulness.” That for me was the Arctic; during the winter of 1941 - 42 I had seen some of its terrifying aspects, its violence and immensity so overwhelming that even men's barbarity to each other seemed to become less horrifying than it was. In 1945 I started to try to compose again; my impressions and experiences inthe Arctic had become something of an obsession and they gradually formulated themselves into a symphony . . . where the music, the sea, an orchestra, my own anguish, all became mixed up together."

Chilling! We also look forward to welcoming Rhys Concessao for Beethoven's First Piano Concerto, and round off the evening with some lively Dvorák.