Berlioz’s King Lear overture was admired by the King of Hanover: ‘How you have portrayed [Cordelia] – her humility and tenderness! It is heart-rending, and so beautiful!’ Continuing our focus on the cello this summer, Colin Matthews’s Berceuse for Dresden takes inspiration from the eight bells of the Dresden church at which it was premiered. In Mahler’s exploration of darkness and radiance in his culminating synthesis of song and symphony, Das Lied von der Erde, he altered the parameters of vocal and orchestral expression for ever.