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Finding Solace in Sound

Elegy

Herbert Howells’ Elegy

As the season continues to Break Sound Barriers, the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra turns its focus to the expressive world of strings in the upcoming concert: String Theory – October 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM in Callaway Auditorium, LaGrange GA. This program explores the many voices of string instruments (full concert is listed below)— and includes everything from vibrant energy to intimate reflection. Few works embody the emotional depth of memorial reflection more beautifully than Herbert Howells’ Elegy. The LSO with featured guest artists, Yinzi Kong, viola, and the Vega String Quartet combine to bring you a work proving that innovation is not always loud or fast — sometimes, it resides in the courage to express silence, simplicity, and grace.

Herbert Howells
Herbert Howells

The Composer

Herbert Howells (1892–1983) was one of England’s most eloquent musical voices of the twentieth century, known for his radiant harmonies and deeply expressive writing. Howells is said to have been shaped by the English choral tradition and by the pastoral landscapes of his native Gloucestershire. His music often carries a spiritual resonance — blending beauty, introspection, and a quiet emotional intensity. Ralph Vaughan Williams, another composer featured in this concert, not only was a contemporary of Howells, but also was a dear friend and a profound influence. Howells attended the premiere of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia, which was a significant point in Howells’ career.

October also marks Herbert Howells’ birthday. Below is a look at our post commemorating this special day.

Herbert Howells' Birthday

The Collective Experience

There are moments within Howells’ Elegy, when the music seems to hang in midair, suspended, and time itself feels paused. In these luminous instants, the audience and musicians create a shared stillness, a fragile and powerful silence that exists only when we are all fully present. These are the moments to breathe with the music, to let your awareness linger in the space between sounds, and to honor the collective experience by keeping distractions away. Phones silenced, hearts open, we enter together into that ethereal quiet. No one in the audience can achieve this by themselves. It is a shared wonder that makes the music resonate even more deeply within each person present.

Before You Listen

Before you hear this piece live on Tuesday, October 28th, lets elaborate on the motivation behind this beautiful work of art.

Composed in 1917, Elegy reflects a moment of profound personal loss. Howells wrote it in memory of his friend and fellow Royal College of Music student, Lieutenant Francis Purcell Warren, who was killed in World War I. Scored for solo viola, string quartet, and string orchestra, the piece unfolds as a moving and solemn meditation on grief and remembrance.

Despite its title, Elegy is not only about sorrow. It’s much more than that. The music opens with a plaintive viola line — introspective and noble — answered by the soft glow of the strings. Howells builds his harmonies gradually. These subtle variances effectively allow time to seem suspended for the audience. The work conveys the complex emotions that accompany grief — acceptance, remembrance, and the uneasy awareness that life endures even as others pass. Some listeners discern within its harmonies a shadow of survivor’s guilt— the fragile, human sorrow of still being here when others are gone, rendered with remarkable tenderness. Moments of tension rise and gently dissolve, leading to a final passage that brings calm and acceptance.

Guest Artists:

Yinzi Kong
Yinzi Kong

Yinzi Kong

Violist Yinzi Kong, born and raised in Shanghai China, was a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Vega String Quartet. Miss Kong started her musical training at age five and gave her first public performances at seven. After moving to the United States in 1995, Miss Kong received a bachelor’s degree from the Harid Conservatory in Florida and a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Since winning several top prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, the Carmel String Quartet Competition and the Coleman Competition in the US with the Vega, Miss Kong has enjoyed a versatile career in both solo and chamber music performance and teaching. She has performed in major concert halls all over the world including the stages of Carnegie Hall, and her Jive performances have been heard on NPR’s Performance Today, the National Radio of China,Shanghai TV, Radio France, France Musiques, and the National Radio of the Czech Republic. Miss Kong has also collaborated with some finest musicians of our time including Yo-Yo Ma, Elliot Fisk, William Preucil, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman, Charles Wadsworth, and Sarah Chang among others. Ms. Kong is on the faculty of both Emory University and Kennesaw State.

Vega String Quartet
Vega String Quartet

Vega String Quartet

The Vega String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University, is cultivating a new generation of chamber music lovers through dynamic performances and innovative community engagement.  The New York Times raved that “[the Quartet’s] playing had a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along…the musicians took real risks in their music making” and the L.A. Times praised their “triumphant L.A. debut.” They concertize both nationally and internationally, most recently in Baltimore, Chicago, Nashville, Sacramento, Berlin, San Miguel, the Brahmssaal in Vienna’s Musikverein and the Kleine Zaal in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. The Quartet’s major performing projects at Emory have included performing the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets, as well as pairing Bach’s complete works for solo violin, viola and cello with the six Bartók quartets.

A unique aspect of the Quartet’s residency at Emory is bringing performance into the classroom, collaborating with academic professors to create interdisciplinary parallels and conversations.  They also enrich the cultural life of their community, having founded the Emory Youth Chamber Music Program, which gives intensive training in small ensemble playing to advanced pre-college students.  The Quartet was appointed to the roster of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Young Audience program, engaging thousands of students throughout the greater Atlanta school system.  They have also held residencies in Augusta, Jacksonville and Juneau which combined traditional concerts with educational outreach, performances in non-traditional venues and masterclasses for area students.

The Vega Quartet has won numerous international awards, including at the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, as well as top prizes from the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, the Carmel Chamber Music Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters String Quartet Competition.  They have toured throughout Asia, Europe and North America and have appeared at Weill Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, and Duke Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London.  The members of the Vega Quartet collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians including David Shifrin, Mark and Maggie O’Connor, Andres Cardenes, Eliot Fisk, Christopher O’Riley, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Robert Spano, Charles Wadsworth, Soovin Kim, Zuill Bailey, the Juilliard Quartet and the Eroica Trio.

Full Program:

The impressive full concert lineup includes:

  • Selections from On Wenlock Edge – Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Jonathan Pilkington, tenor; Vega String Quartet; William Ransom, piano
    I On Wenlock Edge | IV Oh, when I was in love with you | VI Clun

  • Allegretto from Palladio – Karl Jenkins

  • Elegy – Herbert Howells
    Yinzi Kong, viola; Vega String Quartet

  • Simple Symphony – Benjamin Britten (Presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.)
    I Boisterous Bourée | II Playful Pizzicato | III Sentimental Sarabande | IV Frolicsome Finale

  • Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus – Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Concerto for Marimba and Strings – Emmanuel Séjourné
    Sebastian Ocando, marimba
    I Avec force | II Tempo souple | III Rhythmique, énergique

String Theory

Check out all the other posts elaborating on some of the other elements of this concert, with more still to come!  Stay tuned and get your tickets easily through the button below. You can see that this concert promises to be quite fabulous.

© LaGrange Symphony Orchestra 2025/2026 | All rights reserved | 706.882.0662 | Richard Prior, Music Director & Conductor

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