Wagner, Messiaen, Berlioz and Pärt – 26 March 2022

Richard Wagner – Parsifal Prelude and Good Friday Music
Olivier Messiaen – Les offrandes oubliées
Richard Wagner – Lohengrin Prelude
Hector Berlioz – Scène d’amour from Roméo et Juliette
Arvo Pärt – Symphony No. 3

Tom Evans leader
Marc Dooley conductor

26 March 2022, 7.30pm
St Paul’s Church, Hammersmith

Tickets

£12 (under-18s £8)
Online booking fee 15p per ticket

Friends of FSO get a free ticket

About this concert

Fulham Symphony Orchestra returns to St Paul’s Church with a luminous collection of works spanning 120 years, linked by themes of spirituality and transcendence.

Mysterious and radiant music from Wagner’s opera Parsifal uses a sacred six-note sequence known as the Dresden Amen as a leitmotif to represent the Holy Grail, while his prelude to Lohengrin depicts the grail’s descent to Earth with an angelic host.

Messiaen’s early masterpiece Les Offrandes oubliées is a ‘symphonic meditation’ featuring his distinctive spiritual intensity, mysticism and colourful, innovative harmonies.

The Scène d’amour from Roméo et Juliette was Berlioz’s favourite among his own works, evoking a dreamlike nocturnal magic and the wonder of first love.

The concert closes with Arvo Pärt’s joyous Third Symphony, inspired by Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony.