Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra
Our next concert…
Sunday 3 May 2026, 3pm
Come with us 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.
Programme
Rachmaninov - Isle of the Dead
Liszt-Totentanz - Stephen Smithers - piano
Wagner - Siegfried’s Death and Funeral march from Götterdämmerung
Strauss - Tod und Verklärung
Sunday 14th June 2026, 3pm, Saffron Hall
Cattley – Zarparān - (New Commission)
Kabalevsky - Violin Concerto (Alice Cumberbatch - Violin)
Shostakovich – Symphony No.10
Sunday 4th October 2026, 3pm, Saffron Hall
James Mayhew - Birds and Animals Themed Concert
Prokofiev - Peter and the Wolf
Ravel - Mother Goose
Saturday 24th October 2026, 7.30pm, Thaxted Church
James Bond themed concert
Sunday 29th November 2026, 3.00pm, Saffron Hall
Hovhaness - And God Created Great Whales
Page - Tahlequah (Marcus Sadler, Piano)
Vaughan Williams - Sinfonia Antarctica
Sunday 7th February 2027, 3.00pm, Saffron Hall
A concert of film music
Sunday 9th May 2027, 3.00pm, Saffron Hall
Barber - Essay No.1 for Orchestra
Bax - Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra (Robin Ashwell, Viola)
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Saturday 26th June 2027, 7.30pm, Saffron Hall
Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra and Saffron Walden Choral Society
Opera Gala - Night of the Proms Themed Concert