Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 in D Major »The Clock« opens the concert programme. It belongs to the 12 London symphonies that Haydn composed between 1791 and 1795 for his two travels to London.

The death of your own child: Within the space of a few weeks, the poet Friedrich Rückert lost two of his children; he processed this experience, which was an existential shock for him, by composing over 400 songs on the death of children. Decades later, Gustav Mahler selected five poems and created an exceptionally moving song cycle on their basis. In doing so, he added even more depth to the powerful poetry of Rückert.

Premiering in the US in 1941, the Sinfonia da Requiem was Benjamin Britten’s first work for large orchestras. It was commissioned by the Japanese government to celebrate the 2,600th anniversary of the Mikado dynasty in 1939. Britten kept to their stipulations only loosely and composed an orchestral work that is everything but festive. It is dedicated to the memory of his parents and contains an indisputable anti-war message.