British Tone Poems

This concert, given by the Elgar Sinfonia of London, conducted by Adrian Brown and given on Sunday 8 March at St John’s Church, Waterloo, received a capacity audience when a small one could have been expected due to the coronavirus situation. The reason for such enthusiasm was the welcome recognition of Brown’s Elgarian credentials through his being awarded the Elgar Medal at the end of the concert. To reinforce the award Brown ended the concert with a heartfelt performance of the Third Symphony by Elgar elaborated by Anthony Payne. It was Payne who made the award and both musicians can be thanked for allowing sketches left by Elgar to be used and performed for such a successful endeavour, both through the score and the performance. The orchestra warmed to its task by projecting the music with real purpose, through four movements all put together from varying degrees of sketches for a Third Symphony left unfinished by Elgar. Brown produced both effulgent tone when needed in the more ceremonial moments and the warmest, softest sounds in places that now exist in all their grandeur in this near miraculous score. From the other end of Elgar’s life, the concert opened in full noblimente style with the Imperial March composed in 1897. It allowed the orchestra to begin the concert with full-hearted enthusiasm. Brown often revives English works that have dropped out of fashion. No better description can be made of the Piano Concerto by John Ireland; once a favourite of performers and audiences, this highly emotional (think Rachmaninov in places) concerto received a suitably virtuoso performance from Rustam Khanmurzin who played it from memory. Despite our national woes this concert lifted the spirits for all who were there to pay tribute to one of Great Britain’s finest conductors and composers.