Musical inspiration comes in all forms. Mendelssohn's elemental 'Hebridean' Overture sprang from a stormy encounter with the rugged seascape of the Western Highlands. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 - a piece he had been working on intermittently for several years – was apparently completed in the spring of 1803, a few months after the terrible personal crisis resulting from his increasing deafness. The catalyst for Elgar’s perennially popular Enigma Variations was altogether more domestic. A light-hearted piano-side reverie caught his wife’s attention. Elgar then extemporised on its theme around various friends and acquaintances. The rest, as they say, is history…
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More concerts at Royal Festival Hall
Salonen conducts in London
May 30 2013, 19:30 - Royal Festival Hall
Esa-Pekka conducts The Rite of Spring in its centenary performance alongside Debussy's Prelude à l'après-midi d'un faune and Varèse's Amériques
Barry Norman hosts A Night at the Oscars
Jun 01 2013, 19:30 - Royal Festival Hall
Barry Norman hosts 'A Night at the OSCARS', celebrating some of cinema's most iconic soundtracks









