Mozart's World: The Last Symphonies

MOZART’S WORLD THE LAST SYMPHONIES

WELCOME TO OUR 2025/26 SEASON AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE.

Celebrating 40 fantastic years of making music.

1986. It was the year of the Westland Affair, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal at the World Cup in Mexico, the premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s opera The Mask of Orpheus… and in late June Wham! was at number 1 in the UK charts with The Edge of Heaven.

On 26 June, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment first stepped onto a stage.

The first of our two seasons marking this milestone features a kaleidoscope of old favourites and new combinations. It features some of our best-loved partnerships and celebrates our shared history. Handel and Bach, Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms and Dvořák are all composers who have been at the heart of our journey.

The challenges faced by the OAE and all our colleagues are varied, but we remain absolutely focused on the mission of sharing the highest quality music with the widest audience possible. What continues to shine after 40 years is the golden thread of a story of friends united by a profound love of the art of music.

MOZART’S WORLD THE LAST SYMPHONIES

7.00pm

Thursday 26 February

Royal Festival Hall

Programme

WOLFGANG AMAEDUS MOZART (1756 – 1791)

Symphony No. 39

Adagio – Allegro

Andante con moto

Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio

Finale. Allegro

Symphony No. 40

Molto Allegro

Andante

Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio

Allegro assai

– Interval (20 minutes) –

Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’

Allegro vivace

Andante Cantabile

Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio

Molto Allegro

ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Margaret Faultless leader

Robin Ticciati conductor

The OAE’s 40th anniversary seasons in 2025 / 26 and 2026 / 27 are made possible with the support of The Forty Circle.

Free pre-concert talk by Robert Samuels from the Open University at 6.00pm in the Southbank Centre’s Level 5 Function Room, Green Side, Royal Festival Hall.

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Violins I

Margaret Faultless*

Huw Daniel*

Claudia Delago-Norz

Nia Lewis

Alice Evans

Anna Curzon

Andrew Roberts

Claire Sterling

Claire Holden

Judith Templeman

Violins II

Daniel Edgar

Silvia Schweinberger

Rebecca Livermore

Chloe Kim

Jayne Spencer

Simon Kodurand

Ellen Bundy

Rebecca Bell

Violas

John Crockatt*

Martin Kelly

Annette Isserlis

Kate Heller

Francesca Gilbert

Clara Biss

Cellos

Luise Buchberger*

Andrew Skidmore

Richard Tunnicliffe

Penny Driver

Double basses

Christine Sticher*

Cecelia Bruggemeyer

Carina Cosgrave

Flute

Lisa Beznosiuk*

Oboes

Tatjana Zimre

Alexandra Bellamy

Clarinets

Katherine Spencer*

Sarah Thurlow

Bassoons

Jane Gower*

Sally Jackson

Horns

Emmanuel Frankenburg

Martin Lawrence

Trumpets

David Blackadder*

Phillip Bainbridge

Timpani

Adrian Bending*

Harpsichord

Stephen Farr

*OAE Principal Players

Mozart’s World: The Last Symphonies

Robert Samuels

Why did Mozart spend the summer of 1788 writing three symphonies? This is a question that has provoked speculation and comment by almost all biographers, and the answers reveal a great deal about critics, if perhaps less about Mozart himself. Mozart’s meticulous recording of the completion dates of each of his works after he settled in Vienna, confirms that all three were written one after another, in the space of less than three months. The fact that these are his last symphonic works, and all of them supreme works of art, has prompted myth-making ever since Mozart’s untimely death three years after their composition. One good example comes from Alfred Einstein’s wonderful 1946 biography, my own introduction to Mozart’s ‘character and work’ as Einstein’s title puts it:

It is possible that Mozart never conducted these three symphonies and never heard them. But this is perhaps symbolic of their position in the history of music and of human endeavor, representing no occasion, no immediate purpose, but an appeal to eternity.1

Einstein has to admit that a more prosaic occasion of an imminent concert series might have lain behind Mozart’s sudden turn to symphonic composition that summer; but the myth is so appealing, and also so thoroughly Romantic, that it had taken hold long before Einstein expressed it, and continues today. This triptych of symphonies is regarded as standing apart, in an elevated, mystical sphere. Sometimes they are seen as a single, vast, twelvemovement work, an idea promoted by the great Mozart interpreter Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and followed by Iván Fischer on the last occasion that the OAE presented this programme, in 2020, when he placed the interval exactly half-way through them, between the second and third movements of Symphony No. 40.

Recent scholarship, with its aversion to explaining the choices of a professional composer like Mozart on grounds of divine inspiration, has naturally produced plenty of evidence leaning towards a more financially-driven impulse for the composition of these masterful works. Mozart settled definitively in Vienna in November 1783, after his discharge from the service of Archbishop Colloredo “with a kick up the arse”, as Mozart put it in a letter to his father. From then on, he made a living as a freelance musician, taking pupils,

Detail of a Map of Vienna showing 135 Alsergrund where Mozart and his family lived during 1788 (etching & engraving). Artist Huber, Joseph Daniel (fl.c.1776). Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images

performing in public for a fee, or for the takings at subscription concerts, and increasingly through composition.

These three symphonies were written just after the first Viennese performance of Don Giovanni, although these seem not to have been as well received as the opera had been at its premiere in Prague the previous October (Emperor Joseph II, who attended the Viennese performance, commented that ‘Mozart’s music is too difficult for the singers’). Mozart was engaged in experimenting with new forms and approaches, and had noted the success of Haydn’s ‘Paris’ symphonies, written in 1785 – 86 and newly published in Vienna. These works were a new sort of symphony: the society that commissioned them wanted ‘learned’ works that appealed to the intellect, and could provide the centrepiece of a concert programme. What was new was the idea that an entirely instrumental work could carry this kind of weight, without a sung

1 Einstein, A. (1946) Mozart : his character, his work. Translated by: Broder, N. and Mendel, A. London: Cassell, p. 234

text, or a brilliant soloist, to be its focus. So, rather than relying on the piano concerto as the work to be the ‘main event’ of his concert programmes, Mozart seems to have followed his friend Haydn’s lead, and decided to turn to this new kind of symphony instead. Mozart was short of funds (although far from destitute) and in search of a new way to exploit his reputation as a composer. He wrote the symphonies just after having had to move to the suburbs of Vienna in order to rent a cheaper apartment. He must have hoped to make money from these new, experimental, works, perhaps through publishing the scores (as he was trying to do with his String Quintets), and most likely through using them in concert programmes. It is possible that Mozart did indeed present them in a concert series he seems to have projected in Vienna in the Autumn of 1788 (the ‘Casino Concerts’, possibly at the Casino Trattner where he had presented concerts in 1784). We know of these plans from a letter of 1788, written to his friend and fellow Mason Michael Puchberg, from whom he was trying to borrow money. In it, Mozart says tickets are already being sold, so he only needs a short-term loan.2 Unfortunately, our main sources of evidence for Mozart’s day-to-day activities, his letters to his father and his sister, had both ended by 1788; Leopold had died, and Mozart was somewhat estranged from Nannerl. So it is possible that the concerts had to be cancelled through lack of ticket sales, just as a projected tour of England (where he would have needed new symphonies to present) had also fallen through. However, Mozart definitely did present programmes including symphonies on a concert tour to Germany in 1789 (Figure 1). Frustratingly, the descriptions of the programmes that survive do not tell us much about which symphonies were played, but it seems more than likely that Mozart used one or more of these three new symphonies then. It would have been very uncharacteristic of him to finish large works like these without a specific performance opportunity in mind, or to have left them unperformed when such plans failed. Indeed, there are two versions of the Andante from Symphony No. 40, with and without clarinets, which strongly implies that Mozart reorchestrated it for a particular performance.3

What we know of Mozart’s life and circumstances at the time he wrote these works in itself humanises them rather: they fit into a picture of Mozart as an entrepreneur as well as a brilliant performer, and it becomes ironic and sad that Mozart’s plans evidently did not quite come off, unlike Haydn’s two tours of England in 1791 and 1794, which he described as amongst the happiest times of his life, and which were extremely rewarding

financially as well. Of course, piecing together the background of these works from the fragments of evidence that have survived does not detract from the fact that they are, indeed, supreme musical achievements. Hearing them all together in a single concert is not how Mozart would have presented them: indeed, it would seem a waste of the immense effort he went to in writing them. He would much more likely have wanted to present them one at a time during a concert series, or perhaps, as Haydn did, split up the movements of one, playing some to open a concert and the others to close its first half, and then presenting the whole of another symphony to close the second half. But as we listen to all three of them, without any other works, in a single concert tonight, we can not only marvel yet again at Mozart’s symphonic gifts, but also reflect on what might have been, had he had the fortune to continue to produce works in the new genre of the ‘grand symphony’.

2 Anderson, E. (1986) The letters of Mozart and his family. 3rd edn. London: Macmillan, p.915

3 Zaslaw, N. (1989) Mozart’s symphonies: context, performance practice, reception. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 431.

So much has been written about these works, individually and as a group, and they are now so familiar to us, that I have chosen to spend most of these notes looking at their context rather than their effect. I shall close by pointing out just a few things that you may wish to listen out for as you revel in the OAE’s playing.

Symphony No. 39 in E flat K543

Symphony No. 39 has never attracted quite as much commentary as the two that follow it, and indeed in some respects it seems the most ‘Haydnesque’ of the three final symphonies. But that should not disguise its groundbreaking character. The very opening signals its weight, with a massive, slow introduction, more portentous than any by Haydn (who included slow introductions in three of his six ‘Paris’ symphonies). The double-dotted rhythm of the first bar, a glance towards the ‘French Overture’ style of Lully, announces that it introduces a substantial work. Mozart, however, is always full of surprises, leading seamlessly from this opening to a graceful, dance-like triple-metre theme to open the

Allegro. Alfred Einstein speculates that the work carries ‘some secret, Masonic meaning’, on the grounds of the key (E flat, also used in Die Zauberflöte) and its overall tone. The three flats of the key, and the triple-metre of the Allegro, might possibly reflect the importance of the number three in Freemasonry. Haydn’s ‘Paris’ symphonies were, after all, commissioned by the Masonic ‘Loge Olympique’. But Einstein is also responding to something true of any work in the new ‘Grand Symphony’ style. The sense that the music carries meaning, but meaning of a kind only perceptible to those with the knowledge to find it, is inherent to the genre.

Symphony No. 40 in G minor K550

This symphony, more almost than any other of Mozart’s works, led to his being described by early historians of Romanticism, such as the Schlegel brothers, as the most Romantic of composers. One example of its inexhaustible drama will have to suffice here. Figure 2 shows the curiously lop-sided opening to the third movement, in which a six-bar phrase is answered by an eight-bar phrase.

Quite apart from the phrasing, the number of beats tied over the bar lines make this a Minuet that would be extraordinarily difficult to dance. Which is, at least in part, Mozart’s point. This is not music to be danced to, nor even music evoking dance, as a baroque suite might; it has to be understood more as the musical equivalent of the statement, ‘Let me tell you a story about people dancing’. It shows how the Romantic symphony was to become invested with a power of story-telling not previously known to art music.

Symphony No. 41 in C major ‘Jupiter’ K551 Mozart’s final symphony, filling the whole of the second half of tonight’s concert, is the one most mythologised in Mozart literature, largely because it is the last one. It is often taken to be in a metaphorical or mystical sense the ‘last word’ in the Classical style, the astonishing display of contrapuntal work in its Finale simply unsurpassed and unsurpassable. In the words of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, ‘[…] this is a goal, a final destination. There is no going on after this.’4 As I suggested above, however, it may be more true both to music history and to Mozart’s legacy to think of this symphony, along with the others, as a beginning

rather than an end: an exploration of new possibilities in a newly transformed genre, one that would continue to exploit and transform its own history in the century following Mozart’s brief lifetime. If Symphony No. 39 is a fantasy on the expressive possibilities of the Style Galant, and Symphony No. 40 a fantasy on the new artistic movement of Romantic story-telling, then Symphony No. 41 is a fantasy on the possibilities of the ’learned style’, which Mozart had mastered so completely by the age of 32, and which lay behind the Emperor’s disparagement of his music as ‘difficult’ (a judgment shared by other critics of the time). And the counterpoint of the last movement is indeed amazing, as all five of the main themes are brought together. One of them, (Figure 3) even recalls the introduction of the first movement of Symphony No. 39 (Figure 4).

Perhaps, after all, they do belong together, and hearing all three of these masterworks in the same concert is the best way to pay tribute to their creator.

Robert Samuels is Senior Lecturer in Music at The Open University

Robin Ticciati

Robin Ticciati OBE is Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was Music Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2017 – 2024 and Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2009 – 2018.

He is a regular guest with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Budapest Festival Orchestra. Other recent highlights include performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester

Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In the US, he has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

This season, Robin makes debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Pittsburgh and Montreal Symphony; he returns to the Wiener Philharmoniker, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic. He leads Carmelites in his house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper and conducts a new production of Tosca at Glyndebourne.

Born in London, Robin is a violinist, pianist and percussionist by training. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain when, aged fifteen, he turned to conducting under the guidance of Sir Colin Davis and Sir Simon Rattle. He holds the position of ‘Sir Colin Davis Fellow of Conducting’ at the Royal Academy of Music. Robin was awarded an OBE for services to music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2019).

We are going to start our own orchestra

Jan Schlapp, a founding player, recalls the OAE’s beginning

I find it difficult to untangle the many strands of myth and memory that surround the beginning of the OAE. My personal memory is of my late husband, cellist Timothy Mason, coming home after a day of rehearsals in 1985, fired up with enthusiasm, saying “We are going to start our own orchestra and it is going to be player-led”. Busy as I was with two very young children I was initially less than enthusiastic because it seemed an almost impossible idea – where would the money come from? How would we organise it? Who would be involved?

The seed of the idea had been planted by regular conversations between the bassoonist, Felix Warnock, the violinist Marshall Marcus, and Tim, about how to break free from the status quo of London period orchestras. We had little say in any of these orchestras and we felt a bit underappreciated. But more important was the fact that we couldn’t tap into what was going on the continent. The BBC were broadcasting several of the continental giants of period performance such as Harnoncourt, Kuijken, Brüggen, Leonhardt, Christie and Koopman, but we couldn’t access their knowledge and experience. Their way of exploring baroque music was different from our English directors and fascinating to us, because of their intellectual seriousness and their depth of knowledge about

instruments, phrasing, repertoire and style. They had been involved in period instrument performance much longer than us and we wanted to be free to absorb it all. At that time we had no way of inviting them to come to work with us in the UK.

Gradually, in discussion with all interested parties, the idea of a player-led orchestra took shape. Sponsorship was found. Everyone would be paid the same, there would be at least three leaders, and there would be an artistic committee elected by the players who would lead on concerts and repertoire. And out of this “organised chaos” as Marshall put it, came our first London concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in June 1986 with Sigiswald Kuijken directing a programme moving from Rameau to Haydn. This marked the beginning of OAE’s journey. Forty years on, that journey continues today, still with the same ethos and the shared excitement of discovery.

Read Jan’s full article about how the OAE was founded on our blog at oae.co.uk/start

A seat with a view

Roger Montgomery (Horn)

© Alexa Kidd May

When I went to university I hadn’t even seen a natural horn. At York University in the 1980s we had a group called the Classical Players; and there weren’t many horn players on the campus so I got asked to join. In fact, Martin Lawrence, who now plays second in the OAE, had been at York doing physics, and he came back and brought his uncle’s natural horn for me to play. We were playing Mozart 29 and a piece by Dussek, and I think I only got the natural horn on the day of the concert. I was actually scribbling notes in my part during the concert – learning as I played!

I first played with the OAE in 1988 or 1989 and I didn’t know much at the time about how the orchestra was run. I was mostly thinking, “Am I going to mess this up? Will they ask me back?”. I first started to understand what the orchestra was about when I did the Glyndebourne season with them in 1991. We did Così fan tutte with Simon Rattle, and Figaro with Andrew Davis and that was also the year when Glyndebourne commissioned wind serenades to celebrate Mozart’s bicentenary. So we worked with Jonathan Dove and Nigel Osborne, and spent a lot of time working together, getting to know each other really well.

Unlike some of the OAE players, I also perform regularly on modern instruments. At the Royal Opera House I once got asked to jump in and play first horn in a run of Wozzeck, at a time when we were also playing Figaro using natural horns. You have to be quite careful, going from a heavy, heavy blow like that on a modern horn to a really squeaky baroque piece, but in the event I found that as long as I did the heavy lifting – a full daily warm-up on both instruments – it was fine.

And now we’re playing more nineteenth century music in the OAE, the challenge is finding suitable instruments. A good example of a nineteenth century horn can be really excellent, but they tend to wear out because the valve tolerances are extremely tight. So the choice is whether to play on a genuine old valve horn, or have someone make a modern copy. I have a whole room full of old instruments that I’ve bought off eBay and tried to resurrect; some are just worn out, but a number of them are really good! Roger was talking to Richard Bratby

Chief Executive

Crispin Woodhead

Chief Operating Officer

Edward Shaw

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Business Development

Director

Jo Perry

DEVELOPMENT

Development Officer

Emma Badman

Head of Grants (maternity leave)

Madison Hallworth

Head of Grants (maternity cover)

Samantha Haycock

Development Director

Harry Hickmore

Development Officer

Eric Ohlund

Head of Individual Giving

Hattie Rayfield-Williams

Ticketing & Data Manager

Paola Rossi

DIGITAL

Head of Digital Content

Zen Grisdale

EDUCATION

Education Director

Cherry Forbes

Education Officer

Sofia Swenson-Wright

FINANCE

Accounts Officer

Dylan Carter

Finance Director (maternity leave)

Mary Price

Finance Director (maternity cover)

Catherine Sullivan

Finance Manager

Chloe Tsang

MARKETING

Marketing Director

Doug Buist

Marketing Officer

Dora Tsang

PROJECTS

Projects Director

Sophie Adams

Projects Manager

Ed Ault

Projects Officer

Doug Findlay

Orchestra Consultant

Philippa Brownsword

Choir Manager

David Clegg Librarian

Roy Mowatt

OAE-Acland Burghley

School Link

Anna Rimington

LEADERS

Huw Daniel

Kati Debretzeni

Margaret Faultless

Matthew Truscott

PLAYERS’ ARTISTIC COMMITTEE

Cecelia Bruggemeyer (Chair)

Alexandra Bellamy

Daniel Edgar

Katherine Spencer

Christine Sticher

PRINCIPAL ARTISTS

John Butt

Sir Mark Elder

Adam Fischer

Iván Fischer

Vladimir Jurowski

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir András Schiff

EMERITUS CONDUCTORS

William Christie

Sir Roger Norrington

LIFE PRESIDENT

Sir Martin Smith

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Imogen Charlton-Edwards (Chair)

Daniel Alexander

Emma-Jane Azkoul

Alexandra Bellamy

Cecelia Bruggemeyer

Daniel Edgar

Adrian Frost

Alison McFadyen

Roger Mountford

Katherine Spencer

Christine Sticher

Dr. Susan Tranter

Elly Williamson

Crispin Woodhead

OAE TRUST

Adrian Frost (Chair)

Mark Allen

Imogen Charlton-Edwards

Hannah Yan Field

Dino Fontes

Paul Forman

Jessica Kemp

Maarten Slendebroek

Jessica Smith

Sir Martin Smith

Caroline Steane

Season identity by Hannah Yates

Welcome to the Southbank Centre

We’re the UK’s largest centre for the arts and one of the nation’s top five visitor attractions, showcasing the world’s most exciting artists at our venues in the heart of London. As a charity, we bring millions of people together by opening up the unique art spaces that we care for.

The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, National Poetry Library and Arts Council Collection. We’re one of London’s favourite meeting spots, with lots of free events and places to relax, eat and shop next to the Thames.

We hope you enjoy your visit. If you need any information or help, please ask a member of staff. You can also write to us at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, or email hello@southbankcentre.co.uk

Subscribers to our email updates are the first to hear about new events, offers and competitions. Just head to our website and sign up.

in London

Gramophone has been the world’s leading authority on classical music recordings since 1923. With 13 issues a year, every edition will enrich your classical music knowledge with more than 100 expert reviews of the latest recordings, plus in-depth artist interviews and features about composers past and present.

KIRKER MUSIC FESTIVALS

FOR DISCERNING TRAVELLERS

Kirker Holidays creates carefully-crafted short breaks and tailor-made holidays for discerning travellers, including individually selected four- and five-star hotels, private transfers, flights from your local airport and the services of the Kirker Concierge to book expert local guides, tickets for opera, ballet and concerts or a table reservation at a recommended restaurant.

For those who enjoy travelling with a group of like-minded companions in the company of an expert tour leader, Kirker’s range of Cultural Tours & Music Holidays are designed to appeal to interests including Art, History, Architecture, Gardens, Music and Food & Wine.

Each of our carefully-curated Exclusive Kirker Music Festivals includes a series of private concerts with international musicians of the highest calibre. Guests and performers alike particularly enjoy the rapport between audience and artists which is generated during the course of Kirker drinks parties, concerts and workshops.

THANK YOU

This looks like a long list, doesn’t it? But these generous people and organisations provide OAE with around half of our income every year. Contact us on development@oae.co.uk if you would like to join us as a supporter.

Principal Patrons

Imogen Charlton-Edwards*

Denys and Vicki Firth*

Adrian Frost and Stephanie Bickel*

Sir Martin and Lady Smith OBE*

Dr Tony Trapp MBE

Season Patrons

Mark and Susan Allen*

Julian and Annette Armstrong*

Bruce Harris*

Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones*

Selina and David Marks*

Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson*

Mark and Rosamund Williams*

Project Patrons

Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter

Ian S Ferguson CBE and Dr Susan Tranter

Aria Patrons

Joanna and Graham Barker

Steven Larcombe

Peter and Veronica Lofthouse

Stanley Lowy

Alison McFadyen

Peter Rosenthal

Maarten and Taina Slendebroek

Caroline Steane

Lord and Lady Stirrup

Eric Tomsett

Mr J Westwood

* denotes members of The Forty Circle. The Forty Circle provide exceptional philanthropic support to the 2025 / 26 and 2026 / 27 seasons.

Chair Patrons

Daniel Alexander KC

Principal Cello

Katharine Campbell Violin

Anthony and Celia Edwards

Principal Oboe

Claire Espiner

Cello

Anna Flynn in memory of James Flynn

Co-Principal Lute / Theorbo

Paul Forman

Co-Principal Cello / Co-Principal Horn

Jonathan Gaisman Viola

Jane Gilbert Principal Flute

Andrew Green KC and Jennifer Hirschl

Principal Clarinet

Melanie J. Johnson

Christina M

Principal Flute

Michael and Harriet Maunsell

Principal Keyboard

Jenny and Tim Morrison

Second Violin

Andrew Nurnberg

Co-Principal Oboe

Stephen and Penny Pickles

Viola

Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA

Co-Principal Bassoon

John and Rosemary Shannon

Principal Horn

Colin Singer

Education Patrons

David and Marilyn Clark

Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd

Gary and Nina Moss

Susan Palmer OBE

Andrew and Cindy Peck

Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA

Sue Sheridan OBE

Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice MBE

Associate Patrons

Damaris Albarrán

Noël and Caroline Annesley

Sir Richard Arnold and Mary Elford

William Barham

Lady Sarah Bowness

David Emmerson

Dino Fontes and David Stinson

Lorna Gradden

Roger Heath MBE and Alison Heath MBE

Peter and Sally Hilliar

Philip Hughes

Breandán Knowlton

Kathryn Langridge

Moira and Robert Latham

Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd

Roger Mears and Joanie Speers

David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon

John Nickson and Simon Rew

Andrew and Cindy Peck

Tim and Kate Price

David Price and Daniel Gerring

Tim Rhys-Morgan

Jan Schlapp - Rehearsal Soup Patron

Michael Spagat and Karen Lauxmann

Roger and Pam Stubbs

Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum

Simon and Karen Taube

Elly Williamson

OAE NextGen

Emma-Jane Azkoul

Andrew Barratt

Marina Abel Smith

Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett

Mr Harry Hickmore

Jessica Kemp and Alex Kemp

Gold Friends

Michael Brecknell

Tony Burt

Gerard Cleary

Sarah Lady Gough

Chris Gould

Roger Lewis

Alison and Ian Lowdon

Mr Michael Mackenzie

Roger & Jane Mountford

Mr and Mrs Smith

Silver Friends

Haylee and Michael Bowsher

George and Kay Brock

David Cox

Stephen and Cristina Goldring

Nicola Haskins

Malcolm Herring

Patricia Herrmann

Rupert and Alice King

Rose and Dudley Leigh

Anthony and Carol Rentoul

Rupert Sebag-Montefiore

Susannah Simons

Bronze Friends

Tony Baines

Bill and Elizabeth Bordass

Ursula Brennan

Penny & Robin Broadhurst

Dan Burt

Cynthia Butterworth

Michael A Conlon

Mrs SM Edge

Ms Hannah Field

Mrs Mary Fysh

Martin and Helen Haddon

Penelope Hamilton and Andrew Parker

The Lady Heseltine

Mrs Auriel Hill

Sir Roger Jackling

Bill Marshall

Richard I Morris Jr

Mr Matthew Pollitt

Mike Raggett

Alan Sainer

Simon Smith

Ms Sian Stickings

Mr James Stratford

Steve and Jackie Street

Mr and Mrs Tony Timms

Mr John Truscott

Mr & Mrs Michael Vernell

Mrs Joy Whitby

Trusts & Foundations

Arts Council England

The Britford Bridge Trust

John Lyon’s Charity

The Linbury Trust

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

The Apax Foundation

Cockayne – Grants for the Arts

Dreamchasing

The Foyle Foundation

Garfield Weston Foundation

Henocq Law Trust – The Ann and

Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme

John Armitage Charitable Trust

The Neville Abraham Foundation

The Roger and Ingrid Pilkington

Charitable Trust

The Sir Victor Blank Charitable Settlement

Skyrme Hart Charitable Trust

The Vernon Ellis Foundation

The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust

The Albert and Eugenie Frost Music Trust

The Aspinwall Educational Trust

The Charles Peel Charitable Trust

The de Laszlo Foundation

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

The Garrick Charitable Trust

The Golsoncott Foundation

The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation

The Idlewild Trust

The John Thaw Foundation

Mark Allen Foundation

The Michael Marks Charitable Trust

The Patricia Routledge Foundation

The Patrick Rowland Foundation

The Peter Cundill Foundation

Scops Arts Trust

The Stanley Picker Trust

The Thistle Trust

Thriplow Charitable Trust

Vaughan Williams Foundation

Corporate Supporters

Ambriel

Kirker Holidays

Mark Allen Group

Honorary Council

Sir Martin Smith (Chair)

Sir Victor Blank

Edward Bonham Carter

Cecelia Bruggemeyer

Denys Firth

Nigel Jones

Max Mandel

David Marks

Julian Mash

Greg Melgaard

Roger Montgomery

Susan Palmer OBE

David Pickard OBE

Jan Schlapp

Diane Segalen

Lady Elise Smith OBE

Emily Stubbs

Rosalyn Wilkinson

Mark Williams

Thank you to OAE Friends, Supporting Friends and supporters who wish to remain anonymous.

Arts Council England Review highlights OAE residency

We were grateful for the opportunity to participate in Baroness Margaret Hodge’s wide-ranging independent review of Arts Council England that was published in December 2025. The review should be an important contribution to the conversation to shape a sustainable future for the UK’s cultural sector and its relationship with government. Many of Baroness Hodge’s practical recommendations around funding, touring and developing the nation’s cultural offer would represent positive steps forward. Those in positions of authority and influence should be urged to make purposeful decisions for change and progress.

The role of education featured prominently (see Section F of the report), highlighting the importance of linking access to music and culture as part of

daily life from a young age to enjoying the lifelong benefits of live performance and a thriving talent pipeline. We were particularly heartened that the report highlighted our residency at Acland Burghley School as a model for partnership working that can redefine the dynamic between cultural organisations and communities. Recommendation 11 “to create a joint fund that would support improvements to the cultural offer in schools” in particular is to be wholeheartedly welcomed. It is incumbent on us all to nourish the cultural roots of our young people. Being based in a school, we see on a daily basis how meaningful creative enterprise is empowering young people to realise their full potential whilst enabling the Orchestra to deliver world-class performances of Mozart and Beethoven.

“There are many excellent initiatives to bring culture into schools that could be replicated. For example, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has moved its offices into a Camden secondary school enabling the orchestra to enjoy an economical home with rehearsal facilities and enabling the school to brilliantly enrich not just its music education, but also to use music to enhance its physics and maths teaching.”

ACE INDEPENDENT REVIEW BY BARONESS MARGARET HODGE

Scan the QR code and read the full report

Full of Surprises!

“Fantastic!

Brimming with positivity. Brill musicians. Orchestras in schools – is this the future of classical music?

Hope so!”

AUDIENCE MEMBER

Read our Education Review 2024 / 25

Over the past 25 years, the OAE’s Education department has grown in stature and reach to involve thousands of people nationwide in creative music projects. Our work, inspired by each season’s programming, brings our repertoire, instruments and players to people of all ages across England. This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone, from players and animateurs to composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders, all have a valued voice.

From our base in Acland Burghley School in north London, we travel the length of England to deliver our work. In 2024 – 25 we visited Darlington, Consett (County Durham), Leeds, York, King’s Lynn, Brighton, Guildford, Cambridge and Ipswich, as well as the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Camden, Greenwich, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Newham, Merton and Wandsworth.

Read the review on our website at oae.co.uk/discover or scan the QR code

HELP THE OAE GET TO 2066

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has spent four decades redefining classical performance. From pioneering new approaches to historically informed music-making to collaborating with the world’s leading conductors and soloists, the OAE has consistently remained at the forefront of musical innovation. As we mark this milestone, your support will help shape the next forty years of music-making to 2066.

Donate to our OAE at 40 Campaign

The funds raised through the OAE at 40 Campaign will support our 40th Anniversary Seasons, enabling extraordinary programming and collaborations with world-class artists and conductors. Your generosity will also sustain our pioneering partnership with Acland Burghley School, our national education programme and community operas, and our commitment to nurturing the next generation of emerging artists through our Rising Stars programme and Ann and Peter Law Experience Scheme.

Every gift, no matter the size, helps us achieve this ambitious vision and directly supports our Anniversary Seasons across 2025 / 26 and 2026 / 27, carrying the Orchestra confidently through the years to come. oae.co.uk/support-us/oae-at-40

Mozart left his legacy to us, and you can do the same.

By including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in your will, you can help secure our future for years to come. Legacy gifts enable us to perform at the highest level, both on the concert platform and in schools across the country, ensuring that exceptional music continues to inspire audiences of all ages.

Everyone who chooses to leave a gift to the OAE in their will is invited to join the 1986 Society, named in tribute to the year the Orchestra was founded. Members enjoy exclusive benefits, including an invitation to an annual behind-the-scenes event offering insight into how your support brings our work to life.

If you would like to discuss leaving a legacy with the OAE, please contact Hattie at hattie.rayfield-williams@oae.co.uk or call 020 8159 9318.

“I have remembered the OAE in my will, confident that the future will be a bright one.”

MARGARET FAULTLESS, OAE VIOLINIST AND LEADER

BECOME A FRIEND

Love our Southbank Centre concerts?

Join us as a Friend of the OAE today and help bring exceptional music to life. As a Friend, you’ll experience concerts like never before, gaining both front-row access and behind-the-scenes insights. Enjoy priority booking for our entire season, attend open rehearsals, and connect with our musicians at exclusive membership events. For just £50 a year, you can enjoy these benefits and be a part of our 40th anniversary celebrations, supporting an ambitious and inspiring 2025 / 26 Season.

To become a Friend, scan the QR code, visit oae.co.uk/support-us or contact us at development@oae.co.uk or 020 8159 9317

Get 50% off an annual subscription

Breaking Bach pairs hip hop dancers with Bach’s complex rhythms in a bold collaboration with Kim Brandstrup and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Stream it now.

Sunday 29 March, 7.00pm

Queen Elizabeth Hall

ST JOHN PASSION

Johanna Soller makes her London debut in JS Bach’s soulful St John Passion. The Artistic Director of the Munich Bach Choir has been praised for her unique combination of emotion, focused energy and intelligence.

Hilary Cronin soprano | Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Hanley tenor | James Way Evangelist (tenor)

Peter Edge Christus (baritone) | Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Johanna Soller conductor

Southbank Centre Season 2025/26

Sunday 29 March, 7.00pm

Queen Elizabeth Hall

ST JOHN PASSION

JS BACH

St John Passion

Hilary Cronin soprano

Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Hanley tenor

James Way Evangelist (tenor)

Peter Edge Christus (baritone)

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Johanna Soller conductor

Celebrating 40 years of the OAE

Wednesday 27 May, 7.00pm

Royal Festival Hall

THE CREATION

JOSEPH HAYDN

Die Schöpfung (sung in German)

Samantha Clarke soprano

Nick Pritchard tenor

Krešimir Stražanac bass-baritone

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Václav Luks conductor

Wednesday 3 June, 7.00pm

Queen Elizabeth Hall

LIFE OF THE SEA

Join our latest community musical adventure.

Wednesday 10 June, 7.00pm

Royal Festival Hall SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

BERLIOZ

Harold In Italy Symphonie fantastique

Timothy Ridout viola

Sir Simon Rattle conductor

Wednesday 24 June, 7.00pm

Queen Elizabeth Hall

VIENNA 1897: BRAHMS’ LAST CONCERT

BRAHMS

Symphony No. 4

DVOŘÁK

Cello Concerto

JOSEPH HAYDN

Symphony No. 73 ‘La Chasse’

Steven Isserlis cello

Maxim Emelyanychev conductor

OAE TOTS: Sailing Away

Royal Festival Hall for 2 to 5 year olds and their grown-ups

Tuesday 31 March

THE NIGHT SHIFT

Chamber music down a local pub

Next gig: Monday 16 March at The George Tavern

BACH, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING at Kings Place

Mission: to explore our place in the cosmos guided by the intergalactic genius of JS Bach. Each monthly event features one of Bach’s cantatas, and other choral and instrumental works, alongside a talk by an eminent astronomer.

Next event: Sunday 22 March at 11.30am

WHAT’S ON