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Rule Brittania

supported by the Flemish Government

In spite of the stereotypical British reticence, English music has always been open-minded, unrestrainedly expressive, and nostalgic for a past that no longer exists (and perhaps never existed); however idyllic English music may sound, there is always something dark and deep under the notes. When in a few years’ time the ghost of the Brexit will have cleared up, and England has regained the "splendid isolation" it has been craving since the early Middle Ages, the melancholy and nostalgia that has always permeated British music will become a living pain. Until that time, and for a long time afterwards, this programme will treat you to music that is carefree and glowingly melancholic, whether it concerns the earliest works by Edward Elgar, or the most mature output by Gerald Finzi. The Serenade for Strings op. 20 (1892) is the first…