Sinfonia Viva presents 'The Holsts: Father & Daughter'

Saturday 21 March 2026
7.00pm (doors 6.15pm)

Join us for a celebration of the musical legacy of the Holst family – both Gustav and his exceptionally talented and influential daughter, Imogen.

Imogen worked with Benjamin Britten to establish the longstanding Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk alongside her distinguished composing career. Tonight’s highlights are the folk and baroque–inspired Variations on Loth to Depart and the spectacular but rarely heard Festival Anthem. Performed with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir.

From Gustav we have his St Paul’s Suite. Like Imogen’s Variations on Loth to Depart it’s based on English folk music, but it’s much more boisterous and dense – like the musical equivalent of eating a chocolate cake.

Topping off this evening of English string music we have music by Elgar and Britten, including the Playful Pizzicato from Britten’s Simple Symphony, with its ‘dum ti dum ti dum ti dum’  rhythm notably reminiscent of the theme music to The Archers.

Conductor Alice Farnham has long championed Imogen Holst. She recorded all the Imogen Holst pieces you’ll hear in this concert on the album Discovering Imogen with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Elgar | Introduction & Allegro for Strings
Gustav Holst | St. Paul’s Suite   
Imogen Holst | Variations on Loth to Depart   
Imogen Holst | Allegro Assai 
Britten | Simple Symphony       
Imogen Holst | Festival Anthem    

Conductor | Alice Farnham
Chorus Director | Julian Wilkins
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir

The performance of Festival Anthem is made possible with funding from the ABO Trust’s Sirens programme, a ten-year initiative to support the performance and promotion of music by historical women composers.

Tickets: £35 (seats at the front of the Central Nave)/ £30/ £20/ £5 concessions*
Book online or call Ticketsource on 0333 666 3366.

Running time: Approximately 2 hours including one interval

Venue and ticket information:

Tickets
Please note that for this performance we are only the hosting venue and we don’t have any association with the tickets for the event. For any ticket enquiries please contact the event company you purchased the tickets through.

Facilities
There is a licensed bar onsite for the performance, cash and card payments welcome. Please note that your own drinks cannot be brought into the venue. The Cathedral management reserves the right to carry out bag searches at its discretion.

Car parking
The nearest car park to the venue is on St Michaels Lane, DE1 3DQ, and is just £2 to park after 6pm.

Balcony seating
The balcony is not suitable for those with access requirements and limited mobility. Patrons on the front row of the balcony must be 16 years of age and upwards. No under 16s will be permitted to sit on the front row of the balcony. Dancing is prohibited on the balcony. If you’d like to dance, we would encourage you to book a ticket in the nave on the ground floor.

Access seating
The Cathedral has provision for a limited number of wheelchairs in the venue, please speak to the box office selling the tickets before booking seats if you require space for a wheelchair or mobility scooter.