Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth (conductor), Matthew Trusler (violin)

A most well chosen programme of music on this Remembrance Sunday. Firstly a well received rousing rendition of Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ (of Disney ‘Fantasia’ fame). Then the violinist Matthew Trusler joined the stage for Benjamin Britten’s ‘Violin Concerto in D Minor Op.15’, quite a challenge for any virtuoso. It was an outstanding performance, emotionally charged, with fierce energy and excitement, inciting feelings of fear, anxiety, anticipation alongside sweet feelings of love and hope.

After the interval, the gentle romantic refrains of Butterworth’s ‘A Shropshire Lad: Rhapsody’, encouraged further reflection on the human condition and perhaps what might have been, had the composer not lost his life at the battle of the Somme. The final piece, ‘Symphony No.4 in F Minor, written by his admirer Vaughan Williams, brutally interrupted the preceding calm with stirring military rhythms and fanfares. This powerful and moving piece, in four movements, brought the concert to a close amid loud applause.

Brighton Dome Concert Hall, 12 November 2017

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