WMSO is pleased to present two great works from South American composers and one from a more familiar one rather closer to home. The Little Train of the Caipira by Villa-Lobos is a miniature tone poem depicting a steam train typical of those that were widely used in the Brazilian interior at the time of its composition in the 1930s. He uses a wide range of percussion and advanced harmonic structures to produce sounds that imitate the sounds of the train, while at the same time creating a strong sense of Brazilian melody. Argentinian-born composer Ginastera wrote his Harp Concerto in 1956 and it shows off the harp to great effect, combining the composer's interest in folk music with his later expressionist style. We are delighted that Jamaal Kashim will be playing this work with us, having been a finalist in our Young Musician competition in October 2022.
And then we come to Elgar's Symphony No. 1. This work received immediate critical and public acclaim after its première in 1908. It went on to receive over a hundred performances in the years that followed and it has remained a firm favourite in the repertoire ever since. It is surely one of his greatest works.

Tickets: £20, £5 (student/child), available from the Box Office