Sunday 3 May 2026, 3pm

Follow the SWSO on a journey through darkness into the light.

Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra take you on a journey through darkness into light with a programme inspired by composer’s reactions to the inevitability of death. Rachmaninov’s mysterious Isle of the Dead, inspired by Böcklin’s painting, takes us across the River Styx and into Liszt’s Totentanz, a terrifying dance of the dead, using the medieval Dies Irae plainchant as its foundation, performed by Stephen Smithers. Wagner’s brooding but ultimately triumphant Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March from Götterdämmerung is followed by Strauss’ epic tone poem journeying from death into the light of transfiguration.

Tickets available here

Programme

• Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead

• Liszt Totentanz - Stephen Smithers piano

• Wagner Siegfried’s Death and Funeral march from Götterdämmerung

• Strauss Tod und Verklärung