French Colours, Viennese Fire

Debussy Sarabande from Pour le piano arr. Ravel
Paule Maurice - Tableaux de Provence
Beethoven Symphony no. 1Our concert will open with the ERSO debut of our new Assistant Conductor Beth Fitzpatrick, conducting Debussy’s beautiful Sarabande from Pour the Piano, arranged by Ravel.We are then thrilled to present Meg Glover, the hugely talented saxophonist who won our 2026 Soloist of the Year competition. She will be performing Tableaux de Provence by Paule Maurice who was a significant female composer. This work, which is a staple of the saxophone repertoire, has five movements of contrasting character and shows off the instrument in all of its soloistic glory.The second half of the concert will begin with Principal Conductor Christopher Stark illuminating some of the key aspects of our final piece - Beethoven’s First Symphony - using well chosen musical examples conducted by Assistant Conductor Beth Fitzpatrick. This symphony was premiered in 1800 at the Burgtheater in Vienna (shown on our concert flyer) in a concert which Beethoven put on for his own benefit. The work was dedicated to the Baron van Swieten, the patron and connoisseur who had helped introduce Beethoven to Vienna society.Join us for an early evening concert of wonderful music!