BBC Radio 3

From the first bars of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings, the programme invites you into a world of warmth, elegance, and quiet introspection.

Written early in his career, the Serenade is among Elgar’s most intimate works, with gently unfolding melodies and refined textures revealing a composer already attuned to the expressive possibilities of string sound.

Tender, poised, and deeply lyrical, it offers a perfect opener -music that speaks with grace rather than grandeur.At the heart of the concert lies Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 5, a work of remarkable depth and serenity.

Composed during the dark years of the Second World War, it stands apart for its spirit of calm assurance and inward reflection.

Rather than conflict, Vaughan Williams offers a vision of peace: music that seems to breathe, to contemplate, and to console, carrying the listener through landscapes of quiet beauty towards a radiant, transcendent conclusion.The Ulster Orchestra is conducted by Enyi Okpara - recently appointed Fellow Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2026/27 season and currently Calleva Assistant Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.An afternoon of music to settle the mind, lift the spirit, and stay with you long after the final note!ProgrammeElgar: Serenade for Strings (12’)Vaughan Willams: Symphony No. 5 (40’)Ulster OrchestraEnyi Okpara , conductor