Notes by Valerie Sly, 2026

Overview

On the heels of our previous Masterworks concert highlighting some of America’s most definitive composers, A London Landscape of English composers in the modern era is a look now across the pond at their English counterparts. Many of the works on this program are contemporary to those from the previous concert, making this a unique opportunity to compare how orchestral writing developed in each nation during the modern era, particularly as they emerged from disruption of the world wars.

Just like the Americans, British composers turned to the natural world for solace and inspiration. Nature has always gone hand in hand with the development of positive national identity. How could it not? If we find hope and meaning in the natural world by going outside and, to borrow a phrase from the kids, touching grass, then the particular grass we touch is as intrinsic and fundamental to our identities as any other part of our culture. Just as the American landscape was reflected in the music on our previous program, here we encounter the exquisite character of the English countryside: fecund meadows, lush forests, crags and cliffs, and, of course, the perilous splendor of the sea.