Saturday 18 October 2025
7.00 pm
Brentwood County High School
Seven Arches Road
Brentwood
CM14 4JF
Please note the change of venue.
| Conductor | Bradley Winand |
| Violin |
Elodie Chousmer-Howelles |
| Charles Ives | The Unanswered Question |
| Jean Sibelius | Violin Concerto |
| Johannes Brahms | Symphony No 1 |
In writing the programme notes three life lessons emerged: not all questions have answers and some are best left unanswered; first career choices may give way to greater success in other directions; and even the greatest may suffer from imposter syndrome.
Charles Ives (1874-1954) - The Unanswered Question (1908, revised 1930-1935)
The Unanswered Question is the American composer Charles Ives’ most popular work. He wrote that it has three layers: a distant background of strings represents “the Silence of the Druids who Know, See and Hear Nothing". Over it a trumpet repeatedly intones “the Perennial Question of Existence,” and a group of flutes attempts to solve the question with increasing fury. Finally the trumpet asks the question one last time, answered by silence from the flutes and a fading pianissimo from the strings. The three groups of instruments perform in independent tempos and are placed separately in the hall.
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) - Violin Concerto in D minor op 47 (1904, revised 1905).
The Finnish composer Sibelius was, in his younger days, a fine violinist and had had ambitions to be a soloist. That was not to be and he evolved into a great composer. His violin concerto draws wonderfully on the full range of the violin’s possibilities and has become one of the most performed concertos for this instrument and was innovative for its time. It marks a clean break from the romantic operatic style of the late nineteenth century concerto, starting mysteriously without any grand introduction, unclear as to quite what will happen next and gradually unfolding into a mighty symphonic work. Its highly virtuosic solo writing is integral to the music and not merely a vehicle for showy display. It has three very contrasting movements. We are delighted to welcome Elodie Chousmer-Howelles back as soloist.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Symphony No 1 in C minor Op 68 (1855-1876)
It took Brahms 21 years to write his first symphony. Self doubt and writer’s block wracked the young, and not so young, composer. Dreadfully aware of the spectre of Beethoven hanging over him and the expectation, at least in his own mind, of comparison with the revered late master, Brahms struggled against imposter syndrome. The result however is a flowing work of great confidence, power and enduring melody that while acknowledging Beethoven’s legacy and influence could only have been composed by Brahms. It has become a firm favourite. A monument to self-belief and perseverance. It has four movements.
