Britten, Bridge, Delius & Elgar

Image by vieleineinerhuelle from Pixabay

Saturday 20 June 2026, 7:30pm
The Sheldonian Theatre

Britten - Four Sea Interludes
Bridge - Oration
Delius - The Walk to the Paradise Garden
Elgar - Falstaff

Tim Posner 'cello
Robert Max conductor

Britten's Four Sea Interludes, from his opera Peter Grimes, focus on the sea and the inhabitants of a fishing village. The interludes are used for changing scenes within the opera, and portray different moods, from a sea dawn to a stormy maelstrom.

Bridge's Oration, played for us by Tim Posner, is in the style of a cello concerto. This hidden gem is a expressive work, written to express grief over the tragedy of war.

Delius' Walk to the Paradise Garden is a beautiful tone poem, depicting a scene change in his opera A Village Romeo and Juliet where the couple in love walk between a fairground and a mountain inn.

Elgar has long admired Shakespeare's plays, and wrote this symphonic study to portray Falstaff. The four movements, and two interludes, capture scenes from Falstaff's life, including: Falstaff and Prince Hal in the Boar's Head, Falstaff jesting with the landlady, and Falstaff hurrying to London for the pomp and circumstance of the coronation.