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In Search of Purpose – with our Artistic Director Jesús Herrera
Thu 17 Sep, 2026
LPO Artistic Director Jesús Herrera reflects on why context matters, and how this season’s theme invites us to hear familiar masterpieces in a new light.
‘As artistic directors, we often ask ourselves whether it’s actually a good idea to work with ‘overarching themes’. Ultimately, piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of a season, balancing an artistic vision, the wishes of conductors and soloists, programmes that we hope will resonate with audiences, and an array of scheduling practicalities is difficult enough. Why add another layer of complexity?
There are many possible reasons, but for me, it all comes down to two words: providing context. Classical music aficionados are entirely convinced that orchestral music can be phenomenal, something transformative that makes life infinitely richer. But for many others it may feel distant, perhaps even inaccessible. While it is true that many of the iconic works we are so fortunate to perform were written decades or often centuries ago, they all emerged from artists who were driven to express something fundamentally human. This means the inspiration within these compositions can reflect experiences just as close to anyone in today’s audience, regardless of their previous exposure to an orchestra. As custodians of this incredible legacy, I believe it is a beautiful duty not just to present this repertoire because it is fantastic, but to be as generous as we can in how we provide that context. Exploring themes that amplify the depth of the music and connect listeners to its essence is a challenge, in my opinion, undoubtedly worth taking on.
‘In Search of Purpose’ is a wonderful example of a concept that offers an inspiring opportunity to portray something profoundly valuable: how, in times of adversity, we can find a way forward, a spark that allows us to gather strength we maybe didn’t know we possessed. Naturally, this theme stems from the immense task of doing justice to Beethoven during his anniversary season, specifically by portraying his journey ‘from darkness to light’. In his 1802 ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’, Beethoven famously despaired over his fading hearing, the loss of his very connection to music-making. Yet, despite these staggering challenges, he chose to find the strength to keep going, leaving behind an overwhelmingly optimistic, humanistic legacy. He found his purpose in the very act of creation, realising that sharing these deeply profound messages with humanity was a calling worth living for.
Beyond Beethoven, almost every LPO London programme this season has a deep connection to a different facet of purpose. We begin with Britten’s War Requiem (26 September) and its profound purpose of advocating for peace amidst conflict: a message tragically relevant today. We then move to Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (2 October), infused with an expression of deep grief as his sister-in-law (with whom it is said he had been secretly and profoundly in love in his youth) lay dying. It is a poignant articulation of feelings that words alone could not capture. In Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony (21 October), we encounter the ‘anti-theme’: a soul whose purpose is entirely lost, roaming through life without a compass. Further on, Gustav Mahler’s purpose – as he proclaimed himself – was to encapsulate the entire world within a symphony (No. 1, 6 November), while Richard Strauss sought to capture his own life in Ein Heldenleben (18 November), and even tackles existential questions inspired by Nietzsche in Also sprach Zarathustra (10 February). Few stories move me more than that of Béla Bartók, who, while battling leukaemia and after years without composing a single note of original music, created his masterpiece, the Concerto for Orchestra (20 March). And we close the season on 24 April with Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, which explores humanity’s ultimate purpose: coming to terms with our own mortality.
We could map out an extensive list of connections, as almost every concert aligns fascinatingly with this narrative. Instead, I invite you to join us in our concerts to discover every step of this journey for yourself, as we harness The Power of Listening on a collective mission: ‘In Search of Purpose’.’
Explore the search for purpose in our 2026/27 concerts at lpo.org.uk/purpose
