Symphony Sunday - Sibelius & Brahms
Join Southampton Concert Orchestra and Paul Ingram in an afternoon of symphonic beauty.
This afternoon concert brings together two symphonies that glow with quiet confidence and enduring strength. Symphonic works in which great composers refine their voices and reveal the full breadth of their mastery.
Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3 opens the afternoon with music of clarity and poise. Leaner and more transparent than his earlier symphonies, the Third marks a turning point in Sibelius’ style. Its opening movement moves with buoyant energy and clean architectural lines, while the Andantino offers stillness. It's music that seems to breathe with the quiet radiance of northern light. In the finale, Sibelius performs one of his most remarkable feats: playful fragments gradually coalesce into a noble, hymn-like conclusion, forged with inevitability and strength. It is a symphony that speaks softly.
After the interval comes the warmth of Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, a work often celebrated for its pastoral glow and generous spirit. From its serene opening in the lower strings to its exuberant, sunlit finale, Brahms’ Second radiates lyricism and joy. Yet beneath its warmth lies intricate craftsmanship: rich harmonies, intricate counterpoint, and a profound emotional undercurrent. The slow movement sings with introspective depth, the scherzo dances with rustic charm, and the triumphant finale crowns the symphony with radiant brilliance.
Together, these works create a journey from the landscapes of Finland to the golden serenity of Austria. In different voices but shared mastery, Sibelius and Brahms offer music that is both intimate and monumental.
Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton
Sunday 21st June 2026 - 3:00pm
Ticket Prices: £20
Students & Under 18s - £15
The Programme
Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 3
Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3 (Sibelius) offers a striking contrast to his earlier, more expansive symphonies, embracing clarity, balance and classical restraint.
Composed between 1904 and 1907, it reflects a turning point in Sibelius’s style, where richly romantic textures give way to leaner orchestration and tightly woven ideas.
The music unfolds with quiet confidence, its themes evolving with natural inevitability rather than overt drama, culminating in a finale that ingeniously merges elements of scherzo and symphonic conclusion.
The result is a work of subtle power and elegance, revealing Sibelius’s mastery of form and his ability to create profound expression through simplicity.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2
Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 (Brahms) is often described as his most pastoral and warmly lyrical symphony, a work that radiates ease and contentment while still carrying his unmistakable depth.
Composed in the summer of 1877 beside an Austrian lake, it reflects a composer at peace, drawing inspiration from nature’s gentle rhythms and expansive landscapes.
The music unfolds with a natural, flowing grace: sunlit melodies pass effortlessly between sections of the orchestra, rich harmonies glow beneath the surface, and moments of quiet introspection are balanced by passages of radiant joy. Even in its more shadowed episodes, there is a sense of underlying warmth that never fully dissipates.
Brahms combines classical poise with expressive richness, shaping a symphony that feels both relaxed and deeply crafted, culminating in a finale of exuberant energy and triumphant brightness—music that leaves a lasting impression of serenity and optimism.