Four Last Songs
Four Last Songs
Wagner Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96
Strauss Oboe Concerto in D major, TrV 292
Wagner Prelude to Act III from ‘Lohengrin’, WWV 75
Strauss Four Last Songs, TrV 296
Lucy Crowe soprano
Gordon Hunt oboe
Marios Papadopoulos conductor
In 1948, Richard Strauss sensed the end was nigh. Germany lay in ruins, its major opera houses destroyed by war. As his attempts to ignite a cultural rebirth in his homeland proved futile, Strauss turned to music. His final goodbye was a series of four iconic orchestral songs that, in the words of David Bowie, ‘ache with love for a life quietly fading.’ Lucy Crowe joins the Orchestra for a performance of Strauss’s profoundly moving musical epitaph alongside the Orchestra’s Solo Oboe Gordon Hunt performing Strauss’s tender Oboe Concerto written just a few years earlier.
The Sheldonian Theatre is a unique space to experience live music. To see an interactive map of the theatre click here.
27 Nov 2025
Tickets: £18, £30, £40, £54
(Students from £5)
Duration: 120 min
Venue: Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street
(Students from £5)
Upcoming events
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Four Last Songs
27 Nov 2025 – 19:30
Lucy Crowe joins the Orchestra for a performance of Strauss’s profoundly moving Four Last Songs.
Learn More
Handel Messiah
11 Dec 2025 – 19:00
Join Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir for a Yuletide celebration of celestial joy and human togetherness.
Learn More
A Viennese New Year
04 Jan 2026 – 16:30
Prepare to party like its 1899 as the Oxford Philharmonic brings in the New Year with the stirring marches, pointed polkas and elegant waltzes of Austrian tradition.
Learn More
Four Last Songs
Nov 27 2025 – 19:30
Lucy Crowe joins the Orchestra for a performance of Strauss’s profoundly moving Four Last Songs.
Learn More
Handel Messiah
Dec 11 2025 – 19:00
Join Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir for a Yuletide celebration of celestial joy and human togetherness.
Learn More
A Viennese New Year
Jan 04 2026 – 16:30
Prepare to party like its 1899 as the Oxford Philharmonic brings in the New Year with the stirring marches, pointed polkas and elegant waltzes of Austrian tradition.
Learn More