Wednesday 19 November 2025 7.30pm

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A 9% booking fee applies online and over the phone. A £2.50 postage fee is charged where applicable.

Suitable for ages 5+

Main hall

Internationally acclaimed soprano, Elizabeth Watts, directs the Bristol Ensemble in this powerful exploration of human suffering and transcendence.

Programme
Britten Les Illuminations
Vaughn Williams Fantasisa on a theme of Thomas Tallis
Strauss Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings

Britten’s Les Illuminations, based on nine poems by Arturo Rimbaud, forms the centrepiece of the concert, performed here in the version for soprano. Vaughan Williams’ iconic Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, for string quartet and two string orchestras is one of the best loved works of English string music, featuring solo string quartet and two orchestras.

Richard Strauss’s powerful and evocative elegy for 23 solo strings, Metamorphosen, ends this program of music exploring darkness, light, and human suffering. Composed just after the second world war, in response to the bombing of German cultural and artistic centres, its poignant closing bars reference the funeral March from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony in a defiant gesture signifying the power of art over warfare.

Enjoy delicious drinks and light bites from our Café Bar ahead of the event.

Available to pre-order when booking your tickets, you can choose from a selection of house drinks on arrival, accompanied by a mezze board of bread, dips, olives, stuffed peppers, falafel, feta cheese and garden salad (all vegetarian). Just select which option – for one or two people – you would like, before checkout. Or if you’ve already booked, please email boxoffice@stgeorgesbristol.co.uk to add your food to your order.

Your pre-ordered food and drink will be available to collect from the Café Bar from 90 minutes before the event. It’s the perfect way to begin your event experience at St George’s!