Elgar Festival Event - This Fragile Beauty Recital
This Fragile Beauty traces how WWI shaped creative voices. Music, letters and poetry by Gurney, Butterworth, Bliss, Vaughan Williams, Ireland and Elgar reveal a moving portrait of longing, loss and the resilience of art.
- Booking essential
How does war affect creatives? What keeps them going, then and after? This Fragile Beauty, for soprano, piano, violin and narrator, explores the WWI wartime experience of composers Ivor Gurney, George Butterworth, Arthur Bliss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, with settings of war-poets by Ireland and Elgar’s evocative A Voice in the Desert from the Belgian perspective.
A rich tapestry of longing and loss, it also features poems and letters by Gurney and others that emerged from their time in the trenches and the collective grief, processing and change that followed it.
Performers: April Fredrick, soprano Eric McElroy, piano Grace Shepherd, violin Joseph Campbell Powell, narrator
Please note there is no admission charge if you are attending this event and using the café however, National Trust admission applies if you would like to visit the gardens and Elgar's Birthplace.
Times
Prices
| Ticket type | Ticket category |
|---|---|
| Per Ticket | £12.00 |
The basics
- Booking details
Call Please visit the Elgar Festival website. This event is run by the Elgar Festival and can only be booked via their website.
- Suitability
This event is suitable for children
- Meeting point
This event will take place in the Carice Room
- What to bring and wear
This is an indoor event
- Accessibility
The Visitor Centre and Carice Room are fully accessible.
- Other
This event is run by the Elgar Festival and can only be booked via their website. https://elgarfestival.org/events_2026/this-fragile-beauty/ Please note there is no admission charge if you are attending this event and using the café however, National Trust admission applies if you would like to visit the gardens and Elgar's Birthplace.
Upcoming events
Free entry day for Lower Broadheath Residents
On Saturday 28 March we are giving free entry to The Firs for Lower Broadheath Residents.
Easter Adventure Trail at The Firs
From Saturday 28 March to Sunday 12 April, hop into Spring this Easter at The Firs. Can you discover all ten activity stations and make the robin sing?
An Audience with Corinne
Listen to cellist Corinne Frost playing cello music by British composers including Elgar. Corinne will also take music requests (classical or not) and might even create a sound portrait for you.
Festival of Blossom at The Firs - Elgar's Birthplace
Celebrate the arrival of spring and brighter days to come. We invite you to enjoy and feel inspired by blossom's fleeting beauty at The Firs - Elgar's Birthplace.