Best of Britain
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro; Elegy
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallies
Finzi: Eclogue, for piano and strings
Grace Williams: Sea Sketches
Warlock: Capriol Suite
Corona Strings
Leader, Catherine Leech
Piano, Anita d’Attellis
Conductor, Janet Lincé

Two great classics of British music for strings from the early twentieth-century, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s inspired Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and Edward Elgar’s magnificent Introduction and Allegro, will be performed alongside Sea Sketches by Welsh composer, Grace Williams. The programme also includes Gerald Finzi’s meditative Eclogue with piano soloist Anita d’Attellis, Elgar’s intensely moving Elegy and Peter Warlock’s popular Capriol Suite. With two of the works calling for additional string quartets within the orchestral forces, Dorchester Abbey provides an exceptional acoustic in which to hear these works.

Premiered over a century ago, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s seminal work, the Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis, continues to have a life-enhancing effect on those who encounter it. Along with his ‘Sea’ Symphony, the work launched the composer as a major new voice in English music. Composed originally for the acoustic of Gloucester Cathedral, the evocative acoustic of Dorchester Abbey will provide the backdrop for a particularly meaningful listening experience.

Vaughan Williams’s friend, Gerald Finzi, and, for some, his compositional heir until his life was cut short by Hodgkin’s Disease, was another Gloucestershire-inspired composer. The Eclogue for piano and orchestra is one of the composer’s most moving works, originally planned as the central movement of an uncompleted piano concerto. For this performance, the strings will be joined by Oxfordshire-based piano soloist Anita d’Attellis.

Grace Williams, who studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music, composed her Sea Sketches in 1944 and the work suggests the moods of the sea off her native Wales in evocative movements entitled High Wind, Sailing Song, Channel Sirens, Breakers and Calm Sea in summer.

Peter Warlock’s ever-green Capriol Suite has been popular with performers of all ages, becoming one of the composer’s most performed works. Based on Elizabethan and Jacobean dance forms the six movements are named Basse-Danse, Pavane, Tordion, Bransles, Pieds-en-l'air and Mattachins.

Edward Elgar’s "brilliant, quick scherzo", Introduction and Allegro, as described by Elgar’s publisher and friend, August Jaeger, was inspired by Welsh folk tunes which the composer heard whilst on holiday in Cardiganshire and has since become a stalwart of the repertoire. It seems likely that Elgar’s poignant Elegy for strings may have been composed in memory of Jaeger.

“As the host venue for many internationally-renowned artists and events, we are delighted to be performing in one of the most historically important venues in the county”, said conductor, Janet Lincé. “It will be a special treat, too, to work with pianist Anita d’Attellis, a performer with rare poise and a truly instinctive rapport as an ensemble performer.”

Founded in 2012, Corona Strings has established a reputation for dynamic sound and sensitive playing. The orchestra is formed from a fine pool of professional players in Oxfordshire and beyond and repertoire ranges from the Romantic ‘greats’ to music of the 20th century as well as exciting contemporary works.