Gild of Freemen of York

Come and hear the ‘Pastoral’ Symphony played in the beautiful setting of Selby Abbey, as part of York Beethoven Project, an initiative by conductor John Atkin. A guided tour of the Abbey is available at 2.30pm, please contact us if you would like to be involved.

The event is part of a 4 year project which will see the Orchestra play all the Beethoven Symphonies in Local Venues culminating with a performance of the Epic 9th Symphony (Choral) also at Selby Abbey in Spring 2027 which will be the Bi-centenary of Beethoven’s Death.

Symphony No6 op80 in Bb (Pastoral) was completed in 1808 and dedicated to Beethoven’s Friend & Patron Prince Lobkowitz Count Razumovsky . It is one of Beethoven’s few works containing explicitly programmatic content reflecting Beethoven’s love of the countryside around Vienna where he was know to regularly go on very long walks searching for inspiration whilst battling his developing Hearing loss.