We’ll hear Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, written at the end of the Second World War for 23 solo strings. The piece feels like a single, flowing breath, at once tender, haunting, and heartbreakingly human. Its plangent emotion vibrates in the intimate proximity of the Meat Market.

We’ll also explore These Worlds in Us by American composer Missy Mazzoli, a modern reflection on love and memory written in response to conversations with her father, who was a soldier in the Vietnam war. Her sound world glows with slow-building intensity and quiet beauty.

Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony begins with solemn passages evoking the history-haunted ruins of Holyrood Chapel, then bursts with freshness and movement, inspired by the exhilaration of windswept landscapes.

Together, these works create a journey that feels personal, uplifting and deeply human.