Transcendence

This will be the first concert performance of the Yarra Philharmonic Orchestra since 2019. It will feature two major works of the symphonic canon – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5. Although written more than a century apart, connections between these works were immediately drawn upon the premiere of Vaughan Williams’ symphony in 1943. A reviewer in The Times (UK) wrote that the Vaughan Williams symphony “belongs to that small body of music that, outside of late Beethoven, can properly be described as transcendental … music not only of contemplation but of benediction”.