Vaughan Williams’ ever-popular Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis opens Britten Sinfonia’s concert on Saturday, May 24, the orchestra’s final performance of Saffron Hall’s inaugural 2013-14 season.

Saffron Walden Reporter: Maxim RysanovMaxim Rysanov (Image: Archant)

Recently voted the nation’s third favourite work in the 2014 Classic FM Hall of Fame, Williams’ masterpiece for strings is one of two works by the composer in an all-English programme also featuring works by Britten, Elgar and Holst – composers who shared a love of English folk and pastoral traditions.

Britten Sinfonia will be joined by the one of the world’s best and most charismatic viola players, Maxim Rysanov, a former Gramophone Young Artist of the Year and BBC New Generation Artist, who makes his Saffron Hall debut.

Rysanov performs Britten’s Lachrymae – a homage to Dowland’s haunting song If my Complaints Could Passions Move, and Williams’ enigmatic elegy Flos Campi (flowers of the field) alongside Britten Sinfonia’s professional vocal ensemble Britten Sinfonia Voices.

Led by director Eamonn Dougan, Britten Sinfonia Voices also perform four of Holst’s Eight Canons – the composer’s last works for chorus written two years before his death. Touching on themes of loss, Holst’s texts are drawn from several Medieval Latin sources, translated into modern English by the Irish poet and playwright Helen Jane Waddell.

Tickets for the event are available through the box office on 0845 548 7650, online from saffronhall.com or from the Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre.

n To be in with a chance to win a pair of tickets for the concert, simply answer the following question:

What Vaughan Williams work will open Britten Sinfonia’s concert at Saffron Hall?

A - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

B - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Edison

C - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Cruise

Email your answer to myentry@archant.co.uk by May 22. Please remember to include your name, address and a daytime number.