Saturday  20 March 2027 7.30pm
St Andrew’s Garrison Church, Aldershot, GU11 2BY – Venue Information

Conductor: Daniel Hogan

Soloist: So-Ock Kim (Violin)

Schumann: Manfred Overture
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6

Our Spring concert is an unashamed musical expression of forbidden love. The programme opens with Schumann’s Manfred Overture, which is based on the 1817 poem Manfred by Lord Byron. Manfred is an isolated magician, and Astarte is his beloved—and implied sister—whose tragic death and doomed romance drive his relentless torment and desire for oblivion. Written in 1848 at a time when Schumann was suffering with his own mental health, the music reflects the composer’s own inner struggles.

For the second work in the concert, we welcome back much-loved virtuoso violinist, So-Ock Kim, to play the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Sibelius enjoyed a 65-year marriage to his wife, Aino Järnefelt, but engaged in a series of fleeting romantic interests and intense flirtations, particularly during the 1890s and early 1900s. It is against this backdrop that this exhilarating work was composed.

The concluding work of the concert is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6, subtitled Pathétique, which premiered in 1893, just 9 days before his death. The symphony was dedicated to Vladimir Davydov, Tchaikovsky’s nephew, with whom he was said to be infatuated. Same-sex relationships in Tsarist Russia were illegal and strictly punishable and much of the heart-ache and inner conflict experienced by the composer are expressed in this, considered to be the most heartbreaking piece of music ever written. We hope you feel moved to accompany us on this supremely emotional musical journey.