Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra (SWSO) is a community orchestra formed of both professional and amateur players based in and around Saffron Walden in the district of Uttlesford. The Saffron Walden Orchestral Society also oversees the Saffron Walden Children's Orchestra (SWCO).
This Remembrance Day, we will be performing a special Armistice Day programme to commemorate the 100th year of the end of the Great War in association with the Saffron Walden branch of the United Nations Association.
The concert will feature music by composers who died on both sides of the front, including Rudi Stephan’s Music for Orchestra, Frederick Kelly’s Elegy for Strings, and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Pastoral Symphony.
Interspersed with the pieces will be readings of Private Albert Bromfield’s letters, who is SWSO conductor Richard Hull’s great grandfather. Private Bromfield was sent to France with the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, leaving behind his young wife Ada who was pregnant with their first child. He saw action across northern France and Flanders, and survived gassing at Passchendaele to return to the front line in the summer of 1918. He finally returned home in February 1919.
The combination of authentic readings and performances of works composed by those that gave their lives in war promises to be a poignant occasion.
Ticket information:
- Saffron Hall – BOOK NOW online, tel. 0845 548 7650 or in person at the box office
- Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre, 1 Market St, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1HR, tel. 01799 524002
- On the door
For more details, please do feel free to contact us by email, or follow us:
Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra (SWSO)
Saffron Walden Children's Orchestra (SWCO)
If you are interested in joining the orchestra, please do get in touch - we are always happy to hear from new players. Many of our members travel some distance to play with us; however we are of course particularly keen to hear from musicians living near Saffron Walden or in the district of Uttlesforde.
