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We welcome spring with three pieces inspired by the composers’ individual situations and their surroundings.

Dvořák’s In Nature’s Realm has been described as a landscape painting, due to its richness in tone, colour and timbre throughout. It is a perfect reflection of his adoration of Vysoká – his rural retreat, where the renowned natural beauty of Bohemia and nature informed his music.

Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1 is an inspired work, national in style and beautifully written. Forced to leave his conducting work after falling ill with tuberculosis, he moved to the warmer climate of Yalta, where he spent his final years composing. It was during this period of illness and isolation Kalinnikov wrote Symphony No. 1 in G minor, completed in 1895 it was premiered two years later. Overflowing with Russian folk melodies and lyrical beauty, it is generally considered to be the composer’s freshest and most popular work.

Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra, composed in 1927, was inspired by the English countryside and her own life experiences, particularly her strong and indomitable spirit. The “woodsy sounds with bird calls” in the music evoke the countryside, while its blend of sorrow and joy reflects her complex life, including her activism and growing deafness.

Join us as we take a nature-inspired audio amble for our first concert of 2026!